Does anyone else keep starting fics and then dropping them after one to three chapters?

Once you've started a fic how do you keep yourself going instead of just moving to the next idea?

 

Are you talking about writing or reading? With writing, I usually write to get the the scene I really wanted to get to, then promptly lose interest. When reading, the story has to interesting and well written, for me to get past the opening stages. Immediate cliches such as inheritances and sudden Dumbledore bashing get a pretty quick exit.

 

What you've gotta do is plan out whatever it is you're writing so that there are several (more than a dozen is ideal, unless it's only a ficlet) scenes that you really want to write. Like, it pains you that you can't write them because you haven't gotten to that part in the fic yet. Then you have to not skip ahead and write them, because it'll kill your motivation and nobody wants that. Then write.

So plan out a fic before you start writing it, make sure there are a bunch of scenes you can work towards, and don't jump ahead or else you'll lose interest. That's how I do it.

 

The other way to do it is to take a page from Joss Whedon and eat your cake first: write those crowning moments of awesome, the scenes that make the story. Once you have a set of these that are just begging to be gotten to, then filling in the rest will happen a whole lot easier.

It's like working from an outline, only awesomer.

 

If you don't have a solid grasp of where the story is going, just incorporate your new ideas into the same story. If you join NaNoWriMo, you'll find a whole group of "pantsers" (as in, "writing by the seat of your pants") that constantly pick up subplots and weave them in.

For example, for your two stories in the WbA, drop the OC's with knowledge of fanon into a universe where Harry (and possibly others) have gone back in time.

Or, do a better job planning and outlining like others have said. The only way forward is to figure out what works best for you.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'm trying the Dan Welll's structure that someone mentioned on DLP and modifying it somewhat. Hopefully, this will keep me going.

 

All I know is that I'm feeling terrible about delaying my stuff for so long... I get these reviews that make me feel guilty. But it seems so hard to find time to write these days. Maybe I can bring a pad and paper to work and write in the small hours.

 

Well I think you have like millions of fans and followers, Jeram. And I am one of those and I'm waiting (patiently) for your updates especially for the too many travelers time travel fic

I recently posted a story (two chapters) on ff.net and have been stuck on the next chapter. I have about 50 followers (which is surprising and scary) asking all sorts of questions about what happens next and pairings and etc.

I write as it comes to me without planning much beyond the major characters and what they want.

I probably shouldn't have posted it up until I had ten or so chapters done which was recommended by another DLPer.