[ SECRET POST #4901 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #4901 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 72 secrets from Secret Submission Post #702.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

05. https://i.imgur.com/X9ybveK.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

Think of the ending now and write it if you want, and then fill in how you get there.

+1

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, you don't have to write in order! Also, write down any ideas for an ending that come to you no matter how silly they feel, you can play about with them and see how they fit. If they don't work, you can try something else.

+1

[(Anonymous)]

I actually find it a lot easier to write the ending first and then work backwards. Once you know where you're going, it's much easier to figure out how you're going to get there.

[(Anonymous)]

Welcome to the club, friend! You are officially a "pantser"! On one hand it's really great when a story takes on a life of its own, but also really frustrating when you're not sure exactly where it's taking you.

My advice would be to look back at what you wanted to do with it when it was a one-shot. Where did you want to characters to get to? What did you want them to learn? What did you want them to achieve? Look at how your story has spiralled and try to get hold of how those new legs and arms fit into your original concept and brainstorm where they might reach as an end-point.

This is what works for me in similar situations, anyway, just taking a step back to get the big picture and trying to see how the dots can join up. Good luck, OP!

[(Anonymous)]

Would that be so bad? Of course it would be good if you wrapped it up, but so what if you don't. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. This is your first attempt at something bigger, it doesn't have to be perfect. Just keep writing.

[(Anonymous)]

Would that be so bad?

I mean... according to some folks here, anyone who posts anything that isn't 100% complete is literally Hitler, so...

[silverr]

One of the best things you can do for yourself ( and your potential readers) is to not post until you've decided the ending -- if for no other reason than sometimes a great ending means that you might need to go back and revise the the early chapters to lay good groundwork.

[(Anonymous)]

I feel you, OP. I also started writing fic since lockdown and a one shot I did is now this really long, multi-chapter beast. I already wrote the ending, so it's just a matter of getting there, but the getting there is kinda boring. The fun parts are a lot more exciting, but I already wrote all of those.

[icecheetah]

I have had this happen to me.
Both times I wound up writing the first draft of the continuation of the fic during NaNoWriMo. One fic was abandonned due to me getting really burned out with the fandom, the other I fully finished and posted after I had left the fandom!

And it's fine to not finish the story. If feeling 'obliged' to finish it becomes your biggest or only motivation to finish, if there's no 'that one scene' you have in the future to look forwards to writing, if you find yourself uninterested in the characters and plot, then it's probably time to stop. And if you feel like returning, it will be waiting for you.


Now as for getting through those scenes that are tough to write and so on, I find Word Crawls very useful. They're basically themed writing challenges, mostly designed to help you get through NaNoWriMo.
Also if you don't have an account for the NaNoWriMo site, it can be useful to have one! They now have a feature where you can set your own writing challenges at any time of year. If having a set goal for some arbitary word count could help, I suggest trying it out.

[tabaqui]

Do you have anyone you chat to about your writing? Give them the outline of what you have so far and see what they think. This kind of back-and-forth has helped me to find endings before.

Good luck!

[(Anonymous)]

Hello, Other Me.

Yeah, this! And writing the ending first and then filling in isn't working for me, because the intervening sections keep changing the characters' relationships in ways that don't fit the ending I originally planned.

Lesson being learned: writing long-form fic involves different skills than writing short-form fic.

Attitude I'm attempting to apply: Yahoo! I'm writing fiction after years of having no motivation! If I end up not posting every bit of what I'm writing, that's OK, because all writing is practice for future writing.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm in a very similar situation to you. I can't find a happy ending for my characters that doesn’t seem tacked on.