Exactly. I know I might get contradicted like crazy but I've found beautiful prose comes more by carefully editing something already written then by trying to put something down that you think is beautiful. It's like someone trying to be cool vs someone who is cool. The cool person usually is cool because they don't give a damn what people think - the person who tries to be cool is always conscious of their attempt - sabotaging it. Don't write trying to be beautiful. Write, then edit to find the beauty in what you've written.
Are you a cat? https://t.chzbgr.com/ThumbnailCache/maxW290/i.chzbgr.com/completestore/2008/8/5/128624566317403139.jpg Though sorry, that may not be exactly helpful. From this snippet may I conclude you like the absurd? Or fantasy? Or sci fi? What do you like to read? Because I like funny pictures of cheeseburger-coveting cats, my mind would take that concept in a certain direction. Likely it's very different for you. You already hold an important key. It's the question "What if?' Followed by, "What then?"
dude, you have been here since 2009 and you think stories are a formula. they are not. the brutal truth that i want to say is: stop you are wasting your time. you do not want to write. I write everyday. i have to tell stories. whether oral or written down, i have to. if i see a picture i might write a post size story behind it. you sit there and say that a story is conflict and characters and setting, and this is just sad.
Just because I joined in 2009 does not mean I was an active member, nor that I was continually trying to write. This is a contradiction. I cannot waste time trying to write if I don't want to write. Good for you. You don't have to deal with any mental blocks and you have an active imagination. I didn't say anything about what a story is. I said that a story idea, from what I have read, is based on character, conflict, setting, and things of that nature. That doesn't mean I haven't written anything before without that perspective.
I would say ignore that particular post, if it doesn't help you. Never let somebody tell you how you feel or that you can't do something. Perhaps that person was just trying to jog you into another perspective, but don't let the words derail your train. And don't get hung up on them. However, I would pay attention to nearly every other responder on this thread who is telling you: "Forget the idea of writing beautifully; concentrate on what you are writing ABOUT." And simplify. Ramp up your story, but simplify your words. You can embellish them later on, but right now your embellishments are not working for us, your readers. What you're doing at the moment is like piling elaborate clothing onto a shop-window mannequin. The clothing may be interesting, but the mannequin isn't. You can change the mannequin's clothing every single day, but you're not going to make the mannequin more interesting. Nobody wants to read a story about a mannequin, do they? (Or do they....hee hee, story idea...! )
*face palms and shakes head* I can't believe I understood your meaning with this comment. I've been spending too much time with my best friend.
Start it like everyone else does ... one word, and then another, and then another. I'm getting to believe that I really don't write stories, I only record them. Years ago, I was having difficulty writing dialogue, and so I went out and scrounged up a how-to on it. The first bit of advice was to listen to the conversations around you. In a similar sense, pay attention to what goes on around you. Can you see a storyline in it? Can you connect the dots to make a complete picture? Can you see enough to know that there's a nugget down there somewhere that is worth the effort? And once you find that story, start writing -- one word at a time.
Waitingforzion, what would happen if you wrote a prosaic, un-poetic, un-interesting story? Wrote the story, a thousand words or so, and then put it aside in your body of work, to return to later. What would happen? I feel as if that idea--the idea of creating mediocre, prosaic work--is a fear for you, a roadblock that you're unwilling to risk. Therefore, I would suggest that you not only risk it, but make it happen. Write a story about Joe going out to buy a pair of shoes, about his conversation with the salesgirl, about his going home with his purchase, and settling down to watch TV. A boring story, a prosaic story. I suggest that you write that story from beginning to end, and you keep it, without deleting it. I really think that that's a block that you need to get past.
A similar exercise greatly helped me with my motivation to write. I even forced myself to post it online, without editing it at all, under a pseudonym.
I am no expert for sure. Though I wonder if we are making an unneeded assumption. If you want to write but can't find a topic to write about. Why pick? I mean there are people in this world that make a career out of writing for people right? Like every TV series we have ever watched. In that case the you would be writing but wouldn't need to imagine the basic core concept. It would be given to you and you just need to be able work with it. Right? Seriously I am asking. I don't know how that works but I doubt TV screen writers have to publish books before they can get the job. As such the work to get there I assume is mildly different than a author of a standard novel. Just food for thought.
Always remember: There are no bad story ideas. Don't ask yourself (or anyone else) if your idea is good. It's not the idea itself that is good, it's how you use it. As many others have already suggested, don't fear your own writing. Don't set the story in stone before you have written it, because that will extinguish the life the story could have had. Try to form a really basic idea and just start to write. Don't try to control the story, let the story control you.
I don't quite understand...you seem to have quite a clinical approach to writing. Think, if every person in the world read a How to Write book, and they worked for everyone, imagine how many writers there would be in the world! But as you've heard wuite a few times now, ideas aren't something that can be fed to you- they have to come from you. So you genuinely want to write a story. Why rush it? I find the more I force a story; the more I will it to happen the least likely an idea wants to come forward. Take your time, don't rush it. All of these books you're reading have me a little sceptical to their advice. A book can teaach you the concepts of a plot, the mechanics of putting together a structured story, but it can never tell you how to come up with ideas. Life gives you ideas. Do you read often? Do you people watch? Do you scribble on bits of paper, do things that are interesting, go out places, test things out? Writing's not a science (in my opinion). It's a desire that forms into a determination, that eventually leads to disciplined writing. So take it easy, concentrate on actually having something interesting to write about before thinking about the story. When you get something you actually want to write- you'll know. Just let it come.
The best teachers don't tell you how, they show you! And yes, after you've read your favorite books and stories, pause to find these two excellent non-fiction Show-You books on writing... I'm currently rereading my copy of the first of those: Zen and the Art of Writing, by Ray Bradbury. After all this advice here (isn't this a wonderful forum!), what Bradbury says won't come as surprise... Read everything you can get your hands on. Write a thousand words a day, be passionate! Ray Bradbury will get you fired up, get your writing motor screaming high revs! (The other non-fiction Show-You book is On Writing, by Stephen King). You want to write, and that's enough for me. You need no permission! This is your track, there's the start-gun! And you're off!
You don't need to limit yourself to what you've personally experienced. If you want to write about an elderly woman who teams up to fight the zombie alien baby, go ahead.
Self-judgement is the enemy of creativity. While the moment is happening, I think it's best to stay out of the way.
