I don't know that I'm THAT analytical about it, but I have worked on story assignments before (and I'm doing it now, actually, as you know)and it helps to have some tools in your bag. Especially for genre pieces.
For example... a three-act structure with a strong opening scene, knowing what the main character's arc is and putting the opening scene emotionally as far away from that as possible. I.e., Dorothy starts out hating Kansas and wanting to run away, ending up at "there's no place like home." Knowing where you want to end up is key. In fact, that last is always the most important for me; because everything builds to that. Leave some wiggle room so I can change my mind, but since I am often having to plot mysteries and plant clues, I usually work the ending and all the pivotal clues out first.
The idea itself? If it's a pulp assignment from Ron, it usually is a character-- "I need a story about this guy." Then it becomes a question of reverse-engineering that guy's basic themes, needs, etc. What's his biggest challenge? what's something he never had to deal with before? How do I close off all his usual coping methods so he has to do something new and learn a lesson? Etc. On the other hand, if it's an article for Carol, she usually starts with a THEME-- "I need something about finding your calling." Then I pan my personal memories for anecdotes that I can recast or punch up a bit. Usually there's something. For the weekly thing at CBR I have several go-to things when I get stuck-- maybe a funny story from class, or a reminiscence about my own pop culture loves and when I first met them, or an opinion piece about The Industry, or an obscure bit of pop culture history that people don't know about, or a bookscouting story.
But mostly it comes from DOING it. It's a muscle, you have to work it.... especially when you need to derive income from the work. The quote I often think of is from Denny O'Neil, one of my favorite writers; most famous for his work on BATMAN but he's written all kinds of things and is very wise about the craft of writing itself, he also teaches it at the college level in New York and mentored dozens of people when he was an editor at DC and Marvel. He said, "Writing is about ten percent inspiration and ninety percent craft. But you damn well better have the craft because sometimes you don't HAVE the inspiration, and on those days that ninety percent of craft will carry you."
I think of that a lot, especially on the days when I have a deadline and I just don't feel like writing. Honestly, my biggest problem isn't finishing-- it's STARTING. Building the opening scenes, working out the necessary exposition, laying pipe. The reason the stuff reads so stripped-down is because it's the minimum, I really hate doing that. I'd much rather get to the good part-- snappy dialogue, action scenes, scares and suspense. I have to make myself slow down and earn it.
But there are lots of people who live for the world-building and hate trying to write dialogue. Others find ways to editorialize and get their own opinions in there. Etc. Everybody has their thing. But the one thing all my writer friends agree on-- the real ones, the ones that would do it whether they were getting paid or not-- is that you have to do a LOT of it. You have to budget work time and set goals and make yourself take it seriously. Even if it's just a hobby or an amusement, you can always tell the real ones because they hate not finishing things. They crave results and they hammer away till they get some.
It also helps to have an AUDIENCE; if you have people interested in seeing what you do, it helps to keep you doing it. I like people to look at stuff I'm working on not just because they catch things I don't see, but also because knowing they're out there waiting keeps me going.
My two cents. Don't know if that helped or not but as long as you budget work time and commit to a result, you'll get readable work if you keep at it.
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For example... a three-act structure with a strong opening scene, knowing what the main character's arc is and putting the opening scene emotionally as far away from that as possible. I.e., Dorothy starts out hating Kansas and wanting to run away, ending up at "there's no place like home." Knowing where you want to end up is key. In fact, that last is always the most important for me; because everything builds to that. Leave some wiggle room so I can change my mind, but since I am often having to plot mysteries and plant clues, I usually work the ending and all the pivotal clues out first.
The idea itself? If it's a pulp assignment from Ron, it usually is a character-- "I need a story about this guy." Then it becomes a question of reverse-engineering that guy's basic themes, needs, etc. What's his biggest challenge? what's something he never had to deal with before? How do I close off all his usual coping methods so he has to do something new and learn a lesson? Etc. On the other hand, if it's an article for Carol, she usually starts with a THEME-- "I need something about finding your calling." Then I pan my personal memories for anecdotes that I can recast or punch up a bit. Usually there's something. For the weekly thing at CBR I have several go-to things when I get stuck-- maybe a funny story from class, or a reminiscence about my own pop culture loves and when I first met them, or an opinion piece about The Industry, or an obscure bit of pop culture history that people don't know about, or a bookscouting story.
But mostly it comes from DOING it. It's a muscle, you have to work it.... especially when you need to derive income from the work. The quote I often think of is from Denny O'Neil, one of my favorite writers; most famous for his work on BATMAN but he's written all kinds of things and is very wise about the craft of writing itself, he also teaches it at the college level in New York and mentored dozens of people when he was an editor at DC and Marvel. He said, "Writing is about ten percent inspiration and ninety percent craft. But you damn well better have the craft because sometimes you don't HAVE the inspiration, and on those days that ninety percent of craft will carry you."
I think of that a lot, especially on the days when I have a deadline and I just don't feel like writing. Honestly, my biggest problem isn't finishing-- it's STARTING. Building the opening scenes, working out the necessary exposition, laying pipe. The reason the stuff reads so stripped-down is because it's the minimum, I really hate doing that. I'd much rather get to the good part-- snappy dialogue, action scenes, scares and suspense. I have to make myself slow down and earn it.
But there are lots of people who live for the world-building and hate trying to write dialogue. Others find ways to editorialize and get their own opinions in there. Etc. Everybody has their thing. But the one thing all my writer friends agree on-- the real ones, the ones that would do it whether they were getting paid or not-- is that you have to do a LOT of it. You have to budget work time and set goals and make yourself take it seriously. Even if it's just a hobby or an amusement, you can always tell the real ones because they hate not finishing things. They crave results and they hammer away till they get some.
It also helps to have an AUDIENCE; if you have people interested in seeing what you do, it helps to keep you doing it. I like people to look at stuff I'm working on not just because they catch things I don't see, but also because knowing they're out there waiting keeps me going.
My two cents. Don't know if that helped or not but as long as you budget work time and commit to a result, you'll get readable work if you keep at it.