What do you think is the easiest story to write 'til completion? (Novel format)

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Among ones for the Novel format, which ideas you think, is the most 'noob-friendly' and no matter what you do, it's hard to fuck up with it?

It can be as short as a short novel.
 

BenJepheneT

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Light novel. Its short, quick, to the point and mostly dialogue, which means its fun for authors looking to be engaged to their own work.

BUT, unless you have a kick-ass premise descended upon you by the holy rays of God's light, light novels won't get you anywhere big.

But that depends how well you write.
 

Phantomheart

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Prompt fulfilling short stories are hard to fuck up. There are also plenty of prompts to fulfill in the forums, where writing prompts has its own section. They are also great for practice.
 

yansusustories

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I think you can go wrong with almost anything. It might also depend on your own preferences. Personally, I tend to do worse on shorter stuff so I'd have to say go for something super long. But I guess most people wouldn't agree on that :blob_sweat:
 

Phantomheart

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I think you can go wrong with almost anything. It might also depend on your own preferences. Personally, I tend to do worse on shorter stuff so I'd have to say go for something super long. But I guess most people wouldn't agree on that :blob_sweat:
That's so true! Sometimes it can be harder to write shorter stories because they have less to actually look upon, and as a result can be rated and reviewed much more quickly upon features that can be lacking since a shorter story would implicate that each word is just as important as a placement in a longer set novel.
 

BenJepheneT

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I think you can go wrong with almost anything. It might also depend on your own preferences. Personally, I tend to do worse on shorter stuff so I'd have to say go for something super long. But I guess most people wouldn't agree on that :blob_sweat:

Now here is why writing is such a scary thing to do. Short stories depend on impact, and how well it lasts within a person's memory after you read. The characters needs to be fleshed out through quick, well thought dialogue and have no advantages over characters whose actions speak louder than words (e.g Harry Potter).

I'd go back to what I've said on light novels. Light, quick and mostly dialog where you can build your character in the privilege of short sentences.
 

Ninetailed_Furball

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I think you can go wrong with almost anything. It might also depend on your own preferences. Personally, I tend to do worse on shorter stuff so I'd have to say go for something super long. But I guess most people wouldn't agree on that :blob_sweat:
To be honest, my view on that is the opposite. Shorter stories (especially writing prompts) are much easier to finish than any other on the virtue of length. Writing prompts in particular are easy, because of the lack of pressure to do well. It's just a fire and forget thing, and nobody's going to criticize you for doing a poor job, especially when yours is one of dozens or even more submissions.

Doing it well is a completely different beast, and shorter formats are inherently difficult to bring to high levels, but the question was to finish.
 

yansusustories

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To be honest, my view on that is the opposite. Shorter stories (especially writing prompts) are much easier to finish than any other on the virtue of length. Writing prompts in particular are easy, because of the lack of pressure to do well. It's just a fire and forget thing, and nobody's going to criticize you for doing a poor job, especially when yours is one of dozens or even more submissions.

Doing it well is a completely different beast, and shorter formats are inherently difficult to bring to high levels, but the question was to finish.
That is why I said that to me, it's a matter of preference. I'm probably an oddball there since to me short stories (I'm not doing prompts) are harder to write and finish than longer stories (regardless of quality). But that might also be because plotting is half the fun for me. *ponders* Thinking of that, maybe I should say that rather than being a matter of preference it's more of a matter of 'what do you like to do more'. I have more fun with writing long form so I find writing and finishing something like that easier than doing short form.
 

DalangTala

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Among ones for the Novel format, which ideas you think, is the most 'noob-friendly' and no matter what you do, it's hard to fuck up with it?

It can be as short as a short novel.
When I was a 7th grader, I knew for sure that what I made was 'noob-friendly'.

I regret posting it so much. Too bad I can't delete it because I forgot the password of my wattpad account using the username of my 'dark past'.

So for me, noob-friendly will be the writing method which gave you a lot of lesson on what should be or what should not be done. Could be long, could be short. Differs on the experiences for each people. A noob gotta learn from being a noob.
 
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When I was a 7th grader, I knew for sure that what I made was 'noob-friendly'.

I regret posting it so much. Too bad I can't delete it because I forgot the password of my wattpad account using the username of my 'dark past'.

So for me, noob-friendly will be the writing method which gave you a lot of lesson on what should be or what should not be done. Could be long, could be short. Differs on the experiences for each people. A noob gotta learn from being a noob.

like the 'educational' story we read back at school? the one with explicit 'moral of the story'?

as for me, i have a lot of ideas but not enough of motivation to write them. sometimes i just prefer to write summaries and concepts than the story itself. it just felt redundant to detail everything that already played itself in my head hahaha...

i personally have a difficult time for longer stories. i don't really like to remember the details in a story. i prefer something i can just forget about next time. when i read stories, i don't pay attention to the details. like the foreshadowing in the next chapters.

i only care 'bout having fun and expressing myself, not writing something that burdened me in the future.

i find an easier time with the shorter stories. a lot of my recent writings doesn't even have 100 words per chapter. i find it easier to make use of the limits i have and downsize my focus to things i care 'bout. i also like to write short ones 'cuz it means less effort for me. a lot of the things can be done in my head and i can just narrow down what's important.

the shortest ones i did consist of only the idea and the punchline. sometimes the title itself is the idea. with it--i made a chapter with only 1 word xD

for the longest time, the only 'novel' format which i did 'well' was like what I've been doing right now. a compilation of random writings without a theme--if you can call it a novel.

i can just make it how long i want and just end it whenever i feel like it. I find myself unable to keep my interest and go for long when I'm constrained with the plot or scenario.

the reason i asked the question was just gathering up ideas I guess. sometimes I felt bummed out and wanna try new things. like the writing prompt. i had a pretty good time with it.
 

DalangTala

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like the 'educational' story we read back at school? the one with explicit 'moral of the story'?

as for me, i have a lot of ideas but not enough of motivation to write them. sometimes i just prefer to write summaries and concepts than the story itself. it just felt redundant to detail everything that already played itself in my head hahaha...

i personally have a difficult time for longer stories. i don't really like to remember the details in a story. i prefer something i can just forget about next time. when i read stories, i don't pay attention to the details. like the foreshadowing in the next chapters.

i only care 'bout having fun and expressing myself, not writing something that burdened me in the future.

i find an easier time with the shorter stories. a lot of my recent writings doesn't even have 100 words per chapter. i find it easier to make use of the limits i have and downsize my focus to things i care 'bout. i also like to write short ones 'cuz it means less effort for me. a lot of the things can be done in my head and i can just narrow down what's important.

the shortest ones i did consist of only the idea and the punchline. sometimes the title itself is the idea. with it--i made a chapter with only 1 word xD

for the longest time, the only 'novel' format which i did 'well' was like what I've been doing right now. a compilation of random writings without a theme--if you can call it a novel.

i can just make it how long i want and just end it whenever i feel like it. I find myself unable to keep my interest and go for long when I'm constrained with the plot or scenario.

the reason i asked the question was just gathering up ideas I guess. sometimes I felt bummed out and wanna try new things. like the writing prompt. i had a pretty good time with it.
I feel you. I always come up with ideas that never got written. I have novels sitting on a forgotten folder in my laptop, too. Never got pass chapter 10 all these years. Damn it.

No matter how I like an idea, I grow tired of it. There are times when I'm highly motivated with all the planning. I research what needs to be done and of course I got overwhelmed on the number of things that I need to do so that the world building of my fantasy story is compact. Tried making detailed character profiles too. Ended up not using them. And now, I'm tired of the idea that should've been great--at least in my imagination.

I have some trial and error you might get an idea on:
  • Write a one shot. Best if you don't like commitments. One shots doesn't need an in depth detail, too. What you see is what you get, usually.
  • Just write whatever came to your mind. Tried it, never worked for me. The story became trash because I felt I was going no where.
  • I always start with a story description. I still do so that I know what the story is all about.
  • On with detailed planning before writing the story. Still not done with the plan and story. It's been sitting on my laptop for four years now. So it didn't work for me.
  • Tried making character profiles first. Ended up not finishing because planning is making me all tired of the idea. I advice planning some key characters, backstories if needed. Efforts for each depends on their importance.
  • Write the beginning and the end. This is what I'm doing now. It works for me. I know point A and point Z. So from there, I just write stuff as long as it leads to the final point. I have a vague skeleton on the major turning points and that's it. I let my freedom get the better or me as long as I connect the points I made. I enjoy it because it feels like discovering something new.
  • Notes. I write scenes I want to include. Interesting scenes, in my opinion. And as I write the story, somehow, the scenes finds themselves a place where they could be inserted.
Also, I used to write only in my laptop. I wanted to complete a story before posting it so that readers won't be frustrated of months without updates. I know the feeling and hate to make people feel the same. Now, I tried posting it as I make it. It works for me. Readers became my motivation, no matter how few they are.

I only have my sister as a beta reader. I am also a perfectionist person. Ended up revising mere 10 chapters because of things I don't like. Since I posted it, I received a lot of perspective from readers. It helped me a lot and I knew where the interests of my readers are.

The only thing I am writing (that is posted) is a light novel. More leaning towards satire. It's like a joke compilation I made in the guise of a novel. It's a lot lighter compared to my other ideas but I thought I should take baby steps. I am just figuring out my style and what works best for me. Starting with this kind of novel is very helpful. At least for me. If you want to read this I hope you can give me some new perspectives too.

I hope this helps!
 

Ninetailed_Furball

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That is why I said that to me, it's a matter of preference. I'm probably an oddball there since to me short stories (I'm not doing prompts) are harder to write and finish than longer stories (regardless of quality). But that might also be because plotting is half the fun for me. *ponders* Thinking of that, maybe I should say that rather than being a matter of preference it's more of a matter of 'what do you like to do more'. I have more fun with writing long form so I find writing and finishing something like that easier than doing short form.
Sorry, I wasn't trying to be critical when I wrote that. I'm the type to plan things out and keep adding more and more ideas to my stories. Because of that, if I spend more than a cursory amount of time on a story, it quickly bloats into something way more than a simple short story.

I was just trying to say that in terms of finishing, writing prompts were the easiest due to the lack of commitment. Just take your first idea and put it on the screen then forget about it, since it doesn't really matter much. It's a quick outlet and bit of practice on getting something on paper rather than being something wholesome. Like a slice of toast rather than a whole BLT.
 

yansusustories

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Sorry, I wasn't trying to be critical when I wrote that.
No need to be sorry. I didn't take it that way. I just felt I should elaborate a bit on what I wrote before since so many people responded to it and ended up quoting you since you were the last one in the row of people. :blob_sweat:
 

BOWIESENSEI

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Among ones for the Novel format, which ideas you think, is the most 'noob-friendly' and no matter what you do, it's hard to fuck up with it?

It can be as short as a short novel.
i just write short stories, especially within a singular world. It's a good way (at least for me) to build a world.
 
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