Writers Struggle with Plot & Narrative
17 posts across 2 communities in the last 90 days; 88% from r/writers.
“I've found that my chapters vary anywhere from 900 words to 2000, but usually falling right around 1500. They do their job as far as character development, the plot, etc., and I know that chapter lengths do often vary, but as I go back and re-read I can't help feeling like its…”
“How can I stay consistent when writing something? I get a lot of ideas and I get too excited and barely plan anything out in my plot before I start writing. I struggle with the beginning, and I either don’t like the route I took, or get stuck somewhere and completely give up…”
“I usually struggle with spelling and vocabulary, but my biggest problem is pacing. I'm writing a YA novel, and I find it difficult to slow scenes down. There often isn't much in the setting to describe, so when you read a chapter, everything feels rushed. I try to follow the…”
Many writers are facing challenges in plot development, connecting events into a cohesive narrative, and feeling inadequate or 'not smart enough' to execute their story ideas. Concerns also arise around originality and potential plagiarism when seeking feedback.
SOURCES (24)
“I've found that my chapters vary anywhere from 900 words to 2000, but usually falling right around 1500. They do their job as far as character development, the plot, etc., and I know that chapter lengths do often vary, but as I go back and…”
“so i've been screenwriting for a while. i've written a couple features and a lot of short films. something i've noticed is i don't really use the 1 minute per page rule. i feel like i tend to write scenes pretty fast, which results in some pretty short screenplays. but i'm also a director and as a director, i feel like i pace my scenes a lot slower and my films are longer than my page count. idk if this is common but i'd like some advice. is this a bad thing? submit”
“I’m not looking to write anything publishable or professional for now, so I’m really just writing for me, but one thing I struggle with is planning out plots or coming up with steady storylines. I have so many ideas in my head, but no way to link them or execute them properly. I’ll have a good premise and idea, start it, but then just end up stuck. Recently, I started writing a tiny project, wrote 20 pages in less than a week. I usually don’t outline my work, but this was the first time I was ab”
“I am a beginner writer and I’m just halfway to finishing chapter 1, I have 6 chapters on my novel, some chapters are longer than others I can tell, is this impressive? And if some chapters are longer than other chapters, does it have the potential to be a full length novel? submitted by /u/kenjiehere [link] [comments]”
“How do most of you deal with the plot of your stories? Do you simply write and go back later, or do you cultivate your plot like a baby egg in your lap? Or do you not care? I tend to write a lot of sci-fi or grounded fantasy post-apocalyptic adventures, whatever... point of the post is that I don't tend to have a plot in my stories. Most of my writings are just "MC exists... and here's his life... things happen... end, but look how cool the world they live in is!" I love world”
“I know this question is asked a lot here but I want an answer please. People say 500 words daily minimum but I am usually not free so there are days where I don't write a single word, I am writing my first ever novel and started my first draft on start of May this year yet so far I only got like 24k words submitted by /u/New-Parfait-1674 [link] [comments]”
“How can I stay consistent when writing something? I get a lot of ideas and I get too excited and barely plan anything out in my plot before I start writing. I struggle with the beginning, and I either don’t like the route I took, or get stuck somewhere and completely give up. I’m tired of giving up on my stories. How can I stay motivated to keep going or rewrite when my mind is blank? submitted by /u/shaunahat [link] [comments]”
“I can never write a good summary or blurb, whatever you want to call it, when I already have the story planned out/written/half written. I only like the blurbs I write when I think of an idea and write it down in a summary before writing anything else (but then the story usually drastically changes). Does anyone have any tips or use any tricks to get a good and interesting blurb?? submitted by /u/PuzzleheadedArt989 [link] [comments]”
“Genuinely curious because I have noticed this in myself and in almost every writer I have talked to. My villain writes himself. Every scene he is in flows faster, the dialogue comes easier, the motivations feel more layered without me trying. I know exactly how he sees the world and why and even when I disagree with him completely I can write him with total conviction. My protagonist is harder in every way. Scenes with her feel like work. The dialogue is fine but it does not have the same pull.”
“I usually struggle with spelling and vocabulary, but my biggest problem is pacing. I'm writing a YA novel, and I find it difficult to slow scenes down. There often isn't much in the setting to describe, so when you read a chapter, everything feels rushed. I try to follow the "show, don't tell" advice, but when it comes to making scenes longer, it gets complicated. It's especially difficult to show what a character is feeling without stating it outright while also avoidi”
“As I am told, my word count is my worst enemy. After paring down the story to essentially bare bones prose— to the point where if I remove anything else, portions of the plot will start to disappear and then whole sections of the story wont make sense... I am down to 153k words on a fantasy— worlds collide novel. I want... I NEED, to be published. This is my chosen vocation. I am an Author. Any advice on what I should do would be appreciated. I know absolutely zero people in the literary world,”
“Only 1k -- but here's why: I recently wrote an important scene, but it had unintended consequences for a scene downstream from it. So I've been trying to dig myself out of that hole (which is a horrible metaphor, isn't it?). I'm part of the way out. My goal with the 1k (hopefully more) is to finally be out of that hole and have the ability to move forward. What about you? submitted by /u/Potential_Macaron744 [link] [comments]”
“Is it outlines? Do you just write and make things up as you go? Do you just have a rough idea? Personally, I just write random scenes from random points in the story and keep whatever I like. This method has helped me get past some big worldbuilding hurdles by just writing it as a character info dumping the other. It's also helped me figure out character dynamics, backstories and so much more. Of course, I'm pretty sure this isn't the standard way of plotting and that just made me cu”
“I’ve been working on the first book in a planned trilogy, and while I’d initially thought that (due to my expert ability to be wordy) my book would shoot well past 120k words, I’m now about 50% of the way through my first draft, and I believe it will likely be closer to 80-90k. While the second and third books will likely be longer due to political unraveling and the complicated nature of the story, I’m not sure they’ll reach past 120k either. These books are adult fantasy/romance novels with he”
“(Not a professional writer by any means, like not even close) Does anyone have any tips for writing shorter stories? For context, a film program at my school has planning, writing, filming, editing, etc, short films as a major part of its curriculum. Coming from someone who's only other experience comes from writing multi-part serieses or long, drawn out works involving a lot of characterization, setup/payoff, foreshadowing, etc., and who tends to write fairly slow paced stories, how can I b”
“My chapters are usually 1,500-2,000 words, is that too little or too much? How many words do y’all usually have in your chapters? submitted by /u/velvetguilt [link] [comments]”
“Hello and good afternoon, I have started writing a second person book as my personal senior pet project for high school. Now, i have no experience writing, this was something I started writing on a whim over the course of this summer and didn't quite expect it to turn into this big thing that I've now spent 2 weeks on. I only have 4 chapters, technically 5 but it isn't done and I noticed my chapters are very short and while it doesn't feel wrong I am concerned I am moving things”
“Pacing has been something I've been struggling with for a long time. I feel like I've got a couple other aspects down pretty well, however, my scripts seem like they change between slow and fast paced a lot submitted by /u/Same-Revolution2297 [link] [comments]”
“I have recently started writing again, (I took a break for a year in between for academic purposes) and now I feel like the speed at which I write isn't that good, but I write 500-600 words per hour on an average if I am locked in, if not then 300-400 words. So, according to you how many words written per hour is considered a good speed? submitted by /u/The_insane_reader [link] [comments]”
“Can somebody give me advice, I am the third season of a show right now and am having trouble creating a good plot, the thing is I have certain events that I know have to happen in this season, but I am having a hard time trying to connect them into a strong narrative, any advice? submitted by /u/AdWeekly1081 [link] [comments]”
“Just like the captions says, do you enjoy reading your own work? I just started my second round of editing and there are parts of my book that aren’t the most intense or profound but things flow and I find myself enjoying more and critiquing less. Is that how you know your on to something or is there just a a sense of pride? Like a mother who watches there kid completely suck at something but they think they are the best kid out there? submitted by /u/not_a_writer_9613 [link] [”
“I’m writing a sci-fi story and for the most part with sci-fi the author gets to choose how much science they want in it, and how much fiction. For the longest time a lot of my science was done completely by an alien character so I could cheat some things , and just have it be mostly fiction. But as I kept writing, I noticed the main character who was supposed to be a failed astrophysicist was more so just a passenger, who showed no real signs of ever going to school for astrophysics. It also mad”
“Hi, I am currently working on my first book and eventually I am going to need a few beta readers. I wanted to know where exactly others find beta readers who aren’t friends and family. What measures do you put up a prevent plagiarism and stuff? Or do some of you just wing it and hope for the best? I think I am just scared of posting my work online or sharing my work to a stranger and someone stealing my idea. submitted by /u/EnvironmentalBoat772 [link] [comments]”