The adrenalin push

I have been reading stories all over the www in the last few months and I have been left shell shocked at the wasted talent out there. Writers in their haste to get their names on a story have robbed themselves of being a writer of a book. I have read several stories that were but two thousand words long, and a few by the same person. That one person has still not realised his/her potential, and some of the others have passed it by also.

HOW and WHY? You might ask. Well, it will be to your advantage to read all I have to say. This is how most of those stories were written.

The writer has an idea and the more he/she thinks of the plot the faster the heart beats pushing the adrenalin through his/her system. In a moment of madness he/she starts to write the story but find they cannot write as fast as they are thinking. The story is pushing them faster while all the time they are missing out the important parts of the story.

Well maybe not missing but starving the reader of the story that is in their head. These writers know the story, because they while writing the first thousand words have already written it in their minds. It is at this point that corners are cut, and now the story is speeding along at the same rate as the one that is finished in their head.

It’s now finished ready for the read through, and because the writer knows it from beginning to end. The parts of the story that are vague which have left far too much to the reader’s imagination, will now be missed once more. Now all that needs doing is to put a name to the story, and submit it for the public. For anyone that has done this or is about to do this, “STOP.”

At this point the story should be put down and left for a cooling off period, then look at it again in a few days time when in a more subdued state. Read the story through and cringe at the lack of information in the important sections. Kick yourselves for the lack of tie-ups in conversations. Then ask yourself where did the story start and how did the people get to where they were in your story. By being in a more sober mood than when you first wrote the pages you can add thousands of words, making an average story read like a much loved work of art that will make any reader beg for more.

Be well IAN 2411

PS...I have been there and done it a long time and many books ago.

Hehe, nicely put, Ian, and so true. Been there, done that, didn't get a friggin' T-shirt but only felt remorse that I've rushed it later, when I've read it again.

Now I've got strict rules imposed. As soon as I write the word 'END', the story will be put away for at least a month. Severe punishments apply if this rule is violated. ;)

It's something different with short stories, though. They're usually just an - one - idea I have and those I usually write in one go, let them rest for a few days max, then do a spell check, then post them.

PS: Of course one also has to be aware of the opposite, i.e. reworking and rethinking a story to an extent that it's never finished. Never been one of my probs, though.

I see your point, Ian.

Another idea (probably the best, for many different reasons) to avoid this problem: Get someone to edit what you write.

That is such a very good idea lucy, but how many people have another person living next door that is into kink or BDSM.

Then again there is the 26 year old woman that lives opposite me. Her husband told me a few months ago, that she beats him with a stick and is good with a knife. It was said in one sentence as she shouted at him from their doorway. So I am not sure if she is into BDSM, works part time in a circus, or just plain bloody dangerous. Still I might pluck up enough courage to say hello to her one day when I see her outside wearing her normal men’s boots and overalls.

Be well IAN 2411