How to plan a story?

I need some ideas for how to structure my writing. I'm working on a story right now and I've finished chapter 1. I'm stuck after having jotted down a couple of lines for chapter 2 and it is really frustrating. It's like I have so much on my heart, so many emotions that I am not able to articulate.

Does anybody have a strategy for solving such mess?

I could draw down a brain-storm/thought chart where I write all the ideas that I want to express... But I'm having problems with the symbolism and the metaphors. I can't make it too obvious to the reader what the character is thinking and feeling. I want to describe her mood and her yearnings through images and contrasts...

Oooooooo, woe. I'm in deep trouble!

I tend to find it helps if I stop writing that particular part of the story and focus on another part for a while. Then, once that's done, I come back to what was bothering me with a fresh perspective and (hopefully) breeze through it.

As for not letting on what the char is thinking/feeling, vagueness is your friend. Mention a few little hints, let us know something is going on, but be as vague as you dare until it's time to reveal all.

Originally Posted by Tiroth

I tend to find it helps if I stop writing that particular part of the story and focus on another part for a while. Then, once that's done, I come back to what was bothering me with a fresh perspective and (hopefully) breeze through it.

As for not letting on what the char is thinking/feeling, vagueness is your friend. Mention a few little hints, let us know something is going on, but be as vague as you dare until it's time to reveal all.

First part is agreeable. I'll try that.

But being vague is so hard. It's so hard for me I'm thinking "there must be something wrong with me!" I seem to have lost the creative touch and it is really frustrating.

I like to keep a lot of notes regarding what I want to happen in the story. I even write down a few details that I can put later in the story so I don't forget. By the time you get up to a certain point, you should already know what's going to happen. As for the present, I like to talk to a friend about it (someone who won't spoil it for other people!) and usually I get ideas. It's always good to brainstorm with a friend.

As for the second one. Hmm. I don't know. It's possible you could show the main character through the eyes of another character, which would hide the main character's emotions a little more...just a thought.

if you have many emotion it some times can be good to write a story..when I'm angry I usually write some stories which tend to be bloody, when I'm happy some one that are about love and so on..but when I'm working on one story it helps me write diffrent sides to the story to make it fresh...to give it diffrent sides and make you guess to the end...

Well, if your having trouble planning out what you want to happen, then I personally wouldn't recommend jotting down the entire timeline of the story. All this does is limit you to those particular ideas, not creatively, but mentally. If you write them down, you want to stick with them, and then drastically changing the plot seems more difficult later on. Keeping tiny notes for what you want to happen in the present is fine though, and you can keep making them as you go.

As for showing characters' emotions, you ususally have to blend how the characters is acting, along with partial bits of what they're thinking. For example, if a characters is crying, tell us that he/she is crying, why, and also what they're thinking/feeling as it is happening. This gives us all the aspects we really need to put ourselves in the character's shoes. And as Tiroth pointed out, being vague also doesn't hurt you, as it keeps the reader guessing partially, thus making them think more about the character's feelings.

Hope it works out well.

Hylian Lemon: I like to keep a lot of notes regarding what I want to happen in the story. I even write down a few details that I can put later in the story so I don't forget. By the time you get up to a certain point, you should already know what's going to happen. As for the present, I like to talk to a friend about it (someone who won't spoil it for other people!) and usually I get ideas. It's always good to brainstorm with a friend.

I tend to keep notes and do things like that as well. I also think of at the end of my story where I want to have the reader end up and what things I want them to think over after or during when they are reading. Having friends and people who you respect their opinions reading your work is a very good way to get outside input. I have a former english teacher I go to when I am in need of opinions and things like that. But friends I got to muchly.

In my writing I love to use metaphors and be very discriptive in creating a picture for the reader. Sometimes it is hard to pick the best word for what you are trying to show, whether is just be for the enviornment or for a character's own thoughts and feelings that is where I love a thesaurus. I don't like the book kind...takes too long, that is why I have one on the program I use to type up my stories. I am not sure how to help with metaphors...hmm. I guess you could try thinking of, lets say you wanted to use a metaphor to describe something slow. Here is one that is in one of my stories...it just popped up. I don't know how good of an example this is...or it could be more like a simile...:

"Every second passing even slower than the next; constantly melting into each other like dripping wax of a nearly burnt out candle, its wick practically immearsed in liquid heat."

I hope that helps you some! Writing is so much fun and you will get better the more you learn and expiriment (I can't spell worth a crap...that is my flaw..that is where SPELL CHECK RULES) I am still in the learning process! So much to learn so little time!!! ^_~ Good Luck!

I find that tons of ideas come to me when I listen to soundtrack music (Pirates of the Caribbean, Master & Commander, The Rock). I think you should listen to your favorite soundtrack and keep a pencil and pen handy, then you can jot down scenes for the story using the ideas you have.

I find that tons of ideas come to me when I listen to soundtrack music (Pirates of the Caribbean, Master & Commander, The Rock). I think you should listen to your favorite soundtrack and keep a pencil and pen handy, then you can jot down scenes for the story using the ideas you have.

I find that that helps a lot too! BRILLIANT! When I listen to stuff that inspires my, gets my thoughts generating and rolling about in my empty mind they just come out much easier, and of course music just makes one happy...or those that I know it does. So BRILLIANT!!!!

Originally Posted by Gungeleon

I find that tons of ideas come to me when I listen to soundtrack music (Pirates of the Caribbean, Master & Commander, The Rock). I think you should listen to your favorite soundtrack and keep a pencil and pen handy, then you can jot down scenes for the story using the ideas you have.

I thought I was the only one who owned those CDs. xD Gungeleon has a good point though, I always listen to music when I'm writing. My friend and I planned out our fan fic for a few years and only recently did we pin things together, order the events, and actually start to type it out. My advice is to write down anything you can possibly think of that you've come up with in whatever order they come to you at. Then, when you're happy with what you've come up with, try to number them or put them in some kind of rough order. If you have the entire story on a piece of paper, even if just in point form, then you will have a better idea of how much you want to right and what the characters would be feeling at that time. I hope that helps you out Mrs. G.

Okee. Thank you all for your advice. Is it advice or advise.. I never get that right!
But thanks, and I'll consider what works best for me. I think forcing my creativity to make something helps too. I had a rush of ideas last nights that I stored in my mobile phone. Napkins, toilet paper, you name! I'll use whatever is at hand!

Originally Posted by Mrs Ganondorf

Okee. Thank you all for your advice. Is it advice or advise.. I never get that right!
But thanks, and I'll consider what works best for me. I think forcing my creativity to make something helps too. I had a rush of ideas last nights that I stored in my mobile phone. Napkins, toilet paper, you name! I'll use whatever is at hand!

"Advice" is product of "advising".

I also make notes - and by the time I get to that part of the story I often find it going elsewhere. Which is better, because the characters and situation are dictating the plot at that point, which means I'm onto something. If you have an idea where you want to go, head to it, and if something detours you on the way, follow.

I also listen to music to help me get my mood on. Special favourites are "Do Make Say Think" who's stuff is very cinematic and soundtracky.

The best writing advice is this: write. Regardless of trepidation.

Good luck, C.

Originally Posted by pipking

"Advice" is product of "advising".

I also make notes - and by the time I get to that part of the story I often find it going elsewhere. Which is better, because the characters and situation are dictating the plot at that point, which means I'm onto something. If you have an idea where you want to go, head to it, and if something detours you on the way, follow.

I also listen to music to help me get my mood on. Special favourites are "Do Make Say Think" who's stuff is very cinematic and soundtracky.

The best writing advice is this: write. Regardless of trepidation.

Good luck, C.

That is definitely an idea that will work for me.
But oh, those sophisticated words of yours that I have to look up in my dictionary. This time it's trepidation. Pip, how do you do it?

Music works for me, but it has to be film music or any melancholic genre.

Thanks for your input, pip!

I'm currently writing a story as well, and I had similar problems. I wouldn't say that they are completely solved, but I might be able to offer some advice.

Originally Posted by Mrs Ganondorf

I need some ideas for how to structure my writing. I'm working on a story right now and I've finished chapter 1. I'm stuck after having jotted down a couple of lines for chapter 2 and it is really frustrating. It's like I have so much on my heart, so many emotions that I am not able to articulate.

Does anybody have a strategy for solving such mess?

Let it be a mess! Writing in the true order can be exhausting. Remember that a story is not an account of history, but a string of scenes. I let myself write whatever scene I feel like, even if it did not seem to be in the "original" idea. Don't try to control your story too much, and let it take a direction on its own. Your writing is best when you are truly in the moment, and not thinking about getting this part over with so you can get on with the next. The gaps can always be filled later, and would be easier to fill when you know what exactly to put in there.

I find that I'm most inspired late at night, when I don't get stuck as much, so that's when I do most of my writing. Do you have a prime time? If so, seize it.

I could draw down a brain-storm/thought chart where I write all the ideas that I want to express... But I'm having problems with the symbolism and the metaphors. I can't make it too obvious to the reader what the character is thinking and feeling. I want to describe her mood and her yearnings through images and contrasts...

Oooooooo, woe. I'm in deep trouble!

I'm not quite sure what the problem is, but I hope the following helps.

Well, to avoid direct description on the character's thoughts and feelings, I describe their reactions to the surroundings instead. It's like drawing a white object. You can't draw white, so you simply paint around the object.

For example,
Instead of "He was sadder than he's ever felt before",
it could be "The cry of the gulls no longer comforted him."

Why the gulls? Because the character is a sailor. I like to give each character a certain theme, or style, and use metaphors and so forth that are sort of based on their experiences.

Back to the sailor example,
If I wanted to say that he felt trapped, instead of using cage/prison-related imagery, I could say, "It was as if he were on a watch on a ship, beneath a night that would not end, upon the sea that never sleeps." Something like that.

It's like I have so much on my heart, so many emotions that I am not able to articulate

Then write about having difficulty articulating.

Moved to Fiction