Reader question: What to do if I feel like I’ve regressed as a storyteller?

From Elizabeth O:

Scott,

What happens when you’re having trouble putting together plot for ALL of your ideas. In college, I was able to outline a feature idea in one sitting with subplots and everything, but now it is next to impossible. It’s as if I’ve regressed in storytelling. 

I have Plot Point 1, Midpoint, Plot Point 2 and the Ending for most of my ideas but I have trouble of what events to fill them in. So in your mantra of reading pages, watching movies and writing lines, I’ve only been practicing two out of three. 

Any suggestions?

Two issues at work here. First, let’s talk about outlining. One dynamic may be that you don’t know enough yet about your story and its primary characters. I would suggest going back to some basics:

* Who is your Protagonist?
* What do they Want (conscious goal)?
* What do they Need (unconscious or repressed goal)?
* What do they fear most?

If you have a story with a traditional Protagonist metamorphosis arc, these are critical questions. If you’re unclear about the answers, then you have some work to do.

Then move onto other characters: Do you understand their respective narrative functions?

* Who is opposing the Protagonist (Nemesis)?
* Who is most connected to the Protagonist’s emotional development (Attractor)?
* Who is most connected to the Protagonist’s intellectual development (Mentor)?
* Who tests the Protagonist, sometimes an ally, sometimes an enemy (Trickster)?

Understanding how each primary character is related to the Protagonist and their journey should help you with ideas for your plot.

Then there’s the simple act of brainstorming. Perhaps you’ve yet to come up with enough plot points / narrative events. Compile a master list of each plot point. See if you can identify the major plot points. Write each one down on a 3x5 inch index card. Play around with the order of the cards until (hopefully) a structure of events emerges.

Here’s something else that might help: Movie Outline. Product description:

Movie Outline is professional script writing software that was created by a produced writer to take the complexity out of the screenwriting process. Its intuitive design is based on the principle of step-outlining which allows you to easily plan and organize your cinematic structure, develop characters and format your screenplay to industry standard scene by scene.

I’ve tried it out and it works. 

The other issue, Elizabeth, is this idea that you feel like you “regressed as a storyteller.” While that may be how you feel, I would encourage you to frame your internal discussion another way. 

I am on a lifelong path as a creative person. That path has many twists and turns. Sometimes I feel good about where I am. Other times, not so much. But even if I feel lost, I am still on the path. I am always on the path. And even if I feel like I’m slipping backward, I’m actually moving forward because I’m continually learning about my craft. Indeed I learn as much or more from when I’m feeling lost as when I’m feeling good about my writing. It’s all part of my creative process. And I trust the process.

Besides your current malaise re outlining could be as simple as the fact that now you know more about writing, you’re asking yourself tougher questions about character and plot, ‘stuff’ that can enrich your story, but also make the story-wrangling process more difficult. 

A final piece of advice: Avoid standing outside the story and judging your progress (or lack thereof) with the outline. Rather your goal should be to immerse yourself in the story and forget about all the rest. Act on the belief that your story already exists and wants to help you find your way into and through it. 

Perhaps you have this little voice inside your head that may be saying, “What’s wrong with you? You can’t even put together a simple outline? And you call yourself a writer?”

Here’s my advice: Tell that little voice to fuck off.

All that matters is you and your direct engagement with your characters in their story world. 

In other words, go into the story. 

Anybody else feel like you’ve regressed in your ability to tell a story? Feel like you’re lost? Hearing nasty little voices excoriating your creative abilities? 

Please weigh in with your thoughts.

Comment Archive