I wanted to ask those of you who are writers here a question or two. I've been writing since I was in the fifth grade (I graduated from high school in 2010 if that helps), and I have only a few completed works. Anyhow, could you writers here answer these two questions please:
- How do you start your short stories out?
- How do you keep Writer's Block away?
When you want to start, first you have to establish what you want your reader to know. Think of it like laying the foundations, which all of the story will be built upon.
Starting with a simple, hypothetical fantasy story, we'll establish a character and his world.
We want to give the character a name, we'll call him Thorian. We want Thorian to be a very noble, courageous knight, so what better way than to start off in battle? This way, we can show how Thorian fights, what is running through his mind as he swings his sword, and how much of an accomplished fighter he is.
This is a strong, attention-grabbing scenario that leaves a ton more open to tweak. Say that you want the reader to know right off the bat who the bad guy is. We'd describe the main villain watching over the battle. Perhaps in person if he is a bloodthirsty warmonger? Maybe he is a crafty general and watches from the hills? Or he could be a cunning, manipulative wizard who observes his machinations from a crystal ball all the way in the mountains?
Is Thorian protecting people? Are there any people in the town/village/castle that he is especially keen on protecting? Family? Love interest?
These are all questions you can answer, or even leave open when establishing the beginning of your short story, and are things to keep in mind. It's easy to get ahead of yourself and start planning specific things down the line, but if you forget that the reader doesn't know all that you do, all of the little details that help make those things great that NEED to be addressed at the beginning of the story, you'll fall flat on your face. Even worse, you'll feel like the intro is just something you HAVE to get out of the way and either you'll rush it or you'll just lose interest in the project as a whole.
Trust me when I say that setting up the story is a simple matter, and can be one of the most fun parts of writing, but you have to ask yourself all of those questions and set goals.
Now, as for the second part, let's go back to the hypothetical situation. Say that we are hammering things out, and then we get to the bad guy. He's standing there, and he's supposed to say something, something meaningful and foreboding but you just cannot figure it out! There are a few things you can try to do to solve this mess.
First, try playing the scene out in your head. Go into detail, think of how the sun glints off his armour, or perhaps the way he holds his evil glowy sword thing. Get a feel for his character, try to think of what YOU would say if you were right there, standing in his shoes. If that doesn't work, look at other villains. That's not to say pilfer, but DEFINITELY look at what made other speeches great.
Now say you're still drawing blanks. Try playing music that goes along with the scene, or the character, something that can give you the energy for the scene, or perhaps slow everything down. Something expressive and symbolic of what you are trying to write. Often music will give you that little white noise to focus on, and put you in a mindset conducive to your current project.
Third, go the Stephen King route. Stephen King has said on many an occasion, if you don't get it down perfect the first time, just write whatever and come back to it later. Get going, don't let it stall the entire project. Write in that our villain said "Three scones are worth ten pence each!" or some nonsense along the lines, or perhaps even "I AM SAYING SOMETHING OMINOUS OR FOREBODING" so you can come back and write something PROPERLY ominous or foreboding. This will help you get "unstuck" for the moment and continue the story. You can come back later, after all!
Sorry for the essay, but I hope this gives you some advice you can use.
