[RavenATB]

Grab a nice cigar, pour a snifter of Gran Marnier (warmed to 105 degrees), sit back, and enjoy your evening.

[widowithfoursons]

"Last night I dreampt I was at Manderly again". "This is a tale of two cities". "In the beginning...:" Get over it.

[LachlanMinnesota]

I'll bet your block is from reasons other than the story.

Step 1: think about something that angers you mightily...something that really turns your crank.

Step 2: write a letter to the person you hate most in the world, blaming them for the thing you are mad at.

Step 3: Sleep on it that night.

Step 4: The next day, figure out who or what is troubling you to the point of distraction. There may be clues to that in the addressee of the letter, or the thing you were angry about.

Step 5: Think about it and forgive that person or put that item behind you with a lettle prayer. Talk a long wal, drink a cup of coffee, and sit your ass down at the computer and just write the first draft without trying to be such a perfectionist. That can come later when you clean it up and add tha parts you forgot.

Come on your cry baby...write!

(sorry, I got carried away...Dad is a Marine)

[The Brush]

You've got the ending already.
Everyone in the story gets on the same bus to go to Disnay World and the bus hits a wall, a big wall. Everyone is killed.
Of course I won't read the book when it's published now because I know how it ends.

[Chena]

Just wanted to pop in before I sign off and wish you the best of luck with your story. Many posted excellent advice that I'm sure will help you.

[Loud Mime]

...suddenly everybody was run over by a truck..

for those of you who do not recall the article from the original National Lampoon.....here it is:

http://www.blueroses.com/2001_04/hwrite.html

[Cementjungle]

Have a big metorite suddenly wipe out the Earth. That should wrap things up nicely for you.

[Seamoth]

Write out to the ending, no matter how bad the writing might be. Regress to a 1st grade level of detail if you must. It's much easier to go back and fill in the details than you might imagine.

[HungarianGypsy]

Sometimes you just have to do other things and let the story have time to grow and do it's own thing. :-) I have also been working on a story since 1989. It is not the same story it was 17 years ago. It took this long to actually have a beginning, middle and end. If you know where you want to go, but don't know what the next chapter in chronological order is, just write another part. Or write something else. Then come back when you're ready to go on.

[BurbankKarl]

"It's a cookbook"

[rock58seg]

Begin your next chapter with the line, "It was a dark and stormy night..."

[DieHard the Hunter]

Step one: get a dictaphone and lots of tapes. Tell he story to yourself, start-to-wherever-you-get-stuck.

Step two: play the tapes back to yourself, in a quiet room. Over and over and over again.

Step three: sleep on this, see if an answer suggests itself. Keep your dictaphone by your bedside and be ready to dictate, half-asleep. What do you want to happen? What would you least like to happen? Do either suggest a climax, or a conclusion to your story? After all, you don't necessarily need a happy ending, only a logical one.

Step four: if step three doesn't work, take a long break. Dream on it, but during daylight hours don't give it a second thought.

Step five: if the break doesn't work, find a few friends, play them the tapes so far. Seek their guidance. Do they think the story is worth telling? If so -- great! All you need do is finish it. If not, best to know now, amongst friendly folk, that the tale won't fly.

Step six: if after steps one-thru-five don't work, either kill the idea in its infancy, or give it over to a willing stranger.

[R. Scott]

Anyway. I've hit a wall. A large brick wall. I've since stopped editing my own stuff, but try as I might, I can't write another chapter that I'm okay with.

I ran into the same thing when writing on one of my most familiar topics – me. Various people have suggested over the years that I write my autobiography, so I did. I thought it was pretty good – until I passed copies of the rough draft around for feedback. One person was an historian, another an engineer, a bartender and a couple just people friends. They all gave me good feedback and critique.
I took their criticisms and questions to heart and rewrote it for about the tenth time. I added what needed to be added and deleted what needed to be deleted. I left it for a week, came back and read it – and made more changes. I finally thought it was ready for a publisher – and went over the stack of rejection letters for clues as to what I had to do. This process went on for a few years.
I finally had what I figured had to be the final draft. I again sent it out to two historians and a couple friends and it came back with favorable comments. The whole process took from about 1990 to 2005 when I again went looking for a publisher. The first submission was successful and the book (“A Soldier’s Tale, Memoirs of an Army Sailor”) was released on 31 May 2006.
It is a fantastic rush to see your book in print, with your picture on the back cover! WOW!
I am now working on a novel – but after three times of scrapping it after Chapter 3 I took a break and will return to it in a few weeks – after it gels in my mind. I realized by Chapter 3 that I was going to alienate a lot of people. Guess I’m a bit more politically conservative than I thought.

[RoadTest]

"Probably because I've posted part of the story on sites that critique writing."

I think you're onto something there. If Hemingway or Fitzgerald had submitted chapters to the writing experts, do you think their novels ever would have gotten to the publishing stage?

[eyespysomething]

ping

[Lazamataz]

Writers... help! I can't finish the story!

All stories can be successfully ended with this phrase:

"Thank goodness it was only a dream!"

[sergeantdave]

But you can call me Ishmael.

The End.

[CholeraJoe]

Write in an evil wizard who murders a boy's parents. The boy is sent to live with his aunt and uncle and their glutinous son who are mean to him. When the boy turns 11 he is miraculously whisked away to a wonderful school...

Wait that's Harry Potter. Sorry.

[Condor51]

***I've had this story worked out in my mind for going on twenty years. 1989.***

Don't feel bad. J. D. Salinger hasn't done squat since Catcher In the Rye back in 1951.

(actually he didn't DO squat before that either. he's a one hit wonder)