My Approach To Starting a New Story #ISWG

How have you all been? It’s been a long summer! I’m never a big fan of July because that’s when it’s the hottest in Oregon. I’m looking forward to August as it seems to cool down then.

Lately, my writing has been focused on revising existing stories. I watched a webinar today that inspired me because this author said she had received 1,000 rejections over the last 14 years. Since I started actively submitting and keeping track, I’m at the 200 mark with my rejections over the last several years. As I revise, submit, and repeat, I know I’m improving.

This month the Insecure Writer’s Support Group asks:

When you set out to write a story, do you try to be more original or do you try to give readers what they want?

That’s tough to say. In all honesty, I don’t try for either direction. I’m not a plotter by any means, and so if I feel led to a story I write it as if I’m watching a movie play out in front of me. I write what happens and just let the character lead. Now, unfortunately, this often leads to false starts and half-finished pieces, but I’m okay with that. Honestly, sometimes as I go back over old notebooks, these fragments of stories re-inspire me. So, even if a story isn’t done I don’t feel like it’s a total loss.

In the revision stage, I do actively pursue originality, but not intentionally. I keep my reader in mind, but I can’t say I really know what my readers want. I feel like in many ways I’m trying to find my voice still with creative fiction, and knowing my reader, comes after that.

I’d love to know how your summer is going! How do you approach your stories?

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15 thoughts on “My Approach To Starting a New Story #ISWG

  1. You have to tell a story to yourself first. Well, if you’re a pantser, you’re literally doing that. And if it’s authentic then hopefully people pick up on it. Apart from the constants like conflict, tension, it’s hard to second guess what readers want.

  2. Sorry you have been experiencing record heat in Oregon now. It’s hard to figure out what readers want, especially since different readers want different things. Glad you have a system that words for you.

  3. Your comments struck a cord with me, the ‘plodder’ style writer. I feel I write in much the same way, letting words fly onto the page, then coming back to carve away the superfluous. It keeps the onus off the process, donchathink?

    Serious heat disturbs the flow of words, too.

  4. Summer = Hell for me. I endure, until fall and winter.

    I have a Terry Pratchett quote on my laptop: “The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.” Actually, for me, it’s more than the first draft. And I love finding old outlines and chapter drafts of forgotten projects. None of it is wasted!

  5. I think the best way to describe writing, is that it is a journey of constantly learning, unlearning, and re-learning a lot of things. Visiting other blogs has now given me a new perspective I feel.

  6. One snowy night, late January, in the Cumbrian fells – east of the Lake District, just below Scotland, there were voices in the yard, desperate knocking at our back door,
    Enter two snow people, lost, on their trek across the top of England. – coast to coast.
    Thawed out, a little, fed, and after lots of coffee, here’s the story so far.
    Lost ? Very – see below.
    On honeymoon – and the UK was cheap
    They were from Kansas.
    So we drove them 40 miles, to where they were trying to be. Truly only 5 miles over the pass, Offered cash, of course, Wedding present, we said.
    Next ? Did they make it ? Stay married ? I’ll have to write that myself…
    Would love to abolish August, but hiding froim the sun means time to write. UK isn’t usually 40C +

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