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It happens, the story you were originally so excited about has turned into a quagmire. No matter how you struggle to make it work, you just make the mess worse. Should you quit? No, go to the Writer’s Villiage The Wicked Writer Blog, and find some quick fixes that can help get your story back on track!
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Eleven Sneaky Ways To Rescue A Failed Story
by John Yeoman on Friday, June 24, 2016
So your story ‘doesn’t work’. You’ve worried it to death. You’ve cut stuff out. You’ve put it back in again. Now you’re wondering for the nth time if that comma in line three should really have been a semi-colon or a full stop.
Stop!
Isn’t it time to junk the whole wretched tale and start again?
No. Your story might still be rescued, faults and all. Here are eleven sneaky ways. (‘Sneaky’ because they’re quick fixes and don’t pretend to be complete writing strategies.)
I’ll start with a typical story ‘fault’, listed in no particular order, then suggest a remedy or two.
1. You have too many scene shifts or ‘jump cuts’.
A proven way to ramp up your story’s pace is to shift quickly between episodes. End one scene on a note of rising tension then cut to a different scene entirely. Close that scene on a question, mystery or hint of imminent conflict.
Then shift back to the previous scene.
It’s a great technique. Problem is, the story becomes a ping-pong match. And the reader drops the ball…
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