The weekly online writing group I host/lead is a fun gig, a relaxed hybrid between a social writing meet-up and a workshop of writing exercises, analysing stories and general chat. It’s always a source of inspiration and this week, as we talked, I was reminded of an idea I’ve kicked around for a while. It’s about the importance of finding where the energy is located in your story idea, and how this really helps if, like me, you have a folder lurking somewhere that contains the beginnings of abandoned stories.
Bookmarking this one. I like the image of chopping up the unrevivable ones as fertiliser for a new story - I actually just did this with a sitcom episode that absolutely would not work, but it had some good bits that ended up getting carried forward into the replacement episode that worked a lot better. My abandoned story folder goes back nearly 20 years so plenty of potential :-)
Thanks Ken. I have dozens of such stories going back to when I began scribbling fiction in 2016 (seems so long ago and yet not). There are some good ideas in there and this is just the impetus I need to dig them out instead of pretending they belong to someone else.
That’s a really interesting way of looking at it Anna, how those stories feel distant enough that they belong to someone else. But bringing them back to you will hopefully give you some impetus to press ahead with some of them.
Ken great article: what I picked up on was, Distinctive details. I throw the bait in at the start, the "energy" from the fish below the water level, create the ripples. Then I get positive; maybe I can get a big one.....! So you are right, if the first chapter doesn't create the ripples. Change the bait. !
Thanks Karl. So much of a story, from a flash fiction to a whole book, is contained in the opening, and it is a search to find that catalyst to push forward with belief.
Bookmarking this one. I like the image of chopping up the unrevivable ones as fertiliser for a new story - I actually just did this with a sitcom episode that absolutely would not work, but it had some good bits that ended up getting carried forward into the replacement episode that worked a lot better. My abandoned story folder goes back nearly 20 years so plenty of potential :-)
Thanks Ken. I have dozens of such stories going back to when I began scribbling fiction in 2016 (seems so long ago and yet not). There are some good ideas in there and this is just the impetus I need to dig them out instead of pretending they belong to someone else.
That’s a really interesting way of looking at it Anna, how those stories feel distant enough that they belong to someone else. But bringing them back to you will hopefully give you some impetus to press ahead with some of them.
Definitely. No writing is wasted - just needed a push.
Ken great article: what I picked up on was, Distinctive details. I throw the bait in at the start, the "energy" from the fish below the water level, create the ripples. Then I get positive; maybe I can get a big one.....! So you are right, if the first chapter doesn't create the ripples. Change the bait. !
Thanks Karl. So much of a story, from a flash fiction to a whole book, is contained in the opening, and it is a search to find that catalyst to push forward with belief.
Thank you for this post. I’m actually in the process of reviving a short story now.
Excellent Barb, hope it helps and good luck with the story, sometimes the ones that have been marinating a long time turn out to be very sweet!
Thank you!
Love this one. So many helpful tips, especially the advice to find the energy point.
Thanks Stephanie, glad you found it useful.
Love this one. So many helpful tips, especially the advice to find the energy point.
Thanks Ken. A timely reminder.
Thanks Clodagh, I hope it helps (and thanks for the Ko-fi tip. I really appreciate it).