A writer's dilemma

[Endrenesk]

I'm bad at writing.
I don't just say that because my work makes me cringe, but because I've never gotten a single story publicized.
All I have is imagination and creativity, so when I think up a new idea for a story, I put myself in a rut.
Every time I come up with a great idea, it rots, stews, and becomes this awful soup I can't do anything with.
The last thing I tried to work on was a great idea, but I couldn't get an intro (Or anything) down after a year.

I can see how this might just sound like someone complaining. It probably is.
I want to believe that there's something wrong with me, so that I can feel good about failing every time.
But there's no way to earn a positivity from a negative, right?
I have this cynical, self hating mind, and I'm sure many others do. The only reason I can be kind to people who aren't, the only reason I can tolerate stupid, rude people is because I know that they won't be around for long, I know that they'll be dead some day.
It's selfish. I hate myself for it.

How do I stop? How do I start?
How do I stay interested?
Why do I betray myself every time I try?

If you're still reading, I'm going to show some story ideas that I don't want to give up on. I've tried.

Heartstone is probably my most creative, developed of the three.
It's a story about a person abducted to another world, one where people's life force is (usually) trapped in stones- The stones reflect their personality, and their wellbeing. Because the heartstones are outside of the body, people have found ways to channel life force into magic, or in a more mundane way; energy. (Basically, magic from the Eragon Series)
As such, heartstones are often used as a sign of trust, and often are used similarly to rings in wedding ceremonies.
Heartbreak occurs when a person's heartstone is critically damaged, and could be an ironic play on words if the story were to take a romantic turn. Basically, the person turns into like a dark zombie esque monster.
That's about all I had in mind.

Sole Error is about 8 people trapped in a purgatory like game in which they need to solve a question they're not given in order to escape from the time loop, with a bunch of distrust and murder, because one of them's a murderer.
Or 9 people. I don't know anymore.

AI? is the story of a person who gets trapped in a game, facing the very real threats of being deleted if they don't make any progress in the game. In this game, NPCs are fully functional mind wise (perhaps too much so) with randomized personality traits- the catch is that if they don't earn enough points they are deleted from the game. [No current fixed title]

Of these three stories, AI? is probably one of the easier to work off of.
yes ideas are great but not if you can't think up characters
I've thought of being a writer, but I don't know if I'm up for that. Besides, paying for an artist is not a thing I can do.

[sarrowsmith10]

I really really like the idea of Heartstone. I know it kind of sounds like Eragon, but I think its actually very unique! (Eragon only the dragons have stones) There is so much you could do with this idea! I think now you just need some big story points to act as a skeleton and then fill in the details. For example:

There are two sisters who have a perfect childhood.. A bad person steals one sister's heartstone, and the other sister must go on a quest to get it back, learnign how to use magicc on the journey. She fights these zombies on the way. Eventually she fights the bad guy, gets her sister's heart back, and in turn shatters the bad guy's heartstone turning him into a zombie. Then you fill in the in between parts, like the girl makes a friend with pirate and an old blind man who teaches her to use magic... they rescue a baby griffon and save a town from a fire... yada yada...

As long as the big points make sense, your story will be good. Maybe have a beta reader to bounce ideas off of.

[Michelle]

Have you thoroughly studied any material on storytelling/writing/comics?

It sounds like you're under the impression that if you have a good idea, you should be able to execute it. That's like having an idea for a drawing and expecting to be able to just churn it out without learning the skills needed. EVERY story idea sounds awesome when it's safe inside your head until you actually have to make it work on paper. You have to learn the skills, and be willing to deal with the pain and frustration of making a comic if you expect to have anything good. Is it frustrating? No doubt. I don't think you'll find a single author whose story didn't turn to a nebulous blob when they tried to make their vague idea a reality.

And maybe quit fantasizing about the demise of people you deem annoying. Empathy goes a long way towards being a better writer.

[El_Psy_Congroo]

I think since you've got some basic world building elements down, all you need to do is create some characters with foundational personalities and motivations and the plot will begin to build, like @sarrowsmith10 was getting at.

I remember an interview with George RR Martin where he said some writers are architects and others are gardeners. Some have to plan the whole thing in advance and others just plant a seed and watch it grow. I'm probably the latter.

Anyway, try gardening. Take one of your settings (I like the AI one) and create 2 or 3 characters. Establish their backstories, and their relationship with each other, and how you want them to change over the course of the story. I think an interesting aspect would be that the AI's desire to earn points and "live" is very life-like which would raise some moral conundrums with the character trapped in the game. Especially if progress required he kill NPCs. Perhaps the impact would be greater if he only realizes over time that the AI have such a degree of sentience and he begins to regret all the lives he's taken. If you're suffering from self-hatred (first of all, if you really need it, get help) then channel that to really bring to life the psyche of your character. I think all writers need to tap into part of themselves to write convincing human characters.

Also, just keep writing. If you're "bad" at writing that's the only way to get better. Literally the only way. Talent doesn't mean shit. If anything, untalented artists who know the meaning of hard work are more successful. When a talented person hits a slump, they often don't know how to get out because they never had to work for it before. So consider it an asset or an opportunity.

Now, less bitching more writing.

[Straw_Berry]

Definitely keep writing. Have you tried studying how plot structure works? If you broaden your knowledge on how to make a good story structurally, your ideas won't go to waste. Try watching informative videos on youtube, I recommend watching Ellen Brock.

[joannekwan]

Oh I've got a slew of story ideas with no characters attached to them. They're vague concepts sitting in Word docs I haven't opened in years. I like to keep them stored in case I ever do come up with a compelling character, I can insert them in the story and see if it's a good fit.

I agree with @Michelle, to write good characters, you need to empathize with others even just a little. Not everyone has the same viewpoints as yourself and not all your characters should share the same viewpoints as each other. Also, if you can see where different people are coming from on various subject matters, it's easier to work out character motivations which are driving points in a story's plot.

As for story-telling in general. What worked best for me is just consuming more media, read more books/comics, watch more shows/movies. What's really helpful is watching movie reviews, often the reviewer will point out plot holes and story-telling blunders. I recommend watching a few videos from the Nostalgia Critic. He goes over old movies pretty thoroughly and while I don't always agree with his opinions, he is really good at finding plot holes and flubs in the things he critiques.

[haleymewsome]

I think the trick here is not letting your ideas stay in your head. Writing a very basic summary of the whole story before getting into details is definitely a good practice. Ironically, the beginning is probably the hardest part to write first, so usually I figure out the main conflict, the middle part, first, then moving on to the end, and only then do I figure out what'll happen at the start.

And remember! If you don't enjoy writing or drawing, you don't have to do it! You can take a break if you're having a hard time and not enjoying yourself.

[Endrenesk]

Okay. Time to make a post on a conclusion/continuation of thoughts/responses.
@sarrowsmith10 Those are some pretty solid plot points, right in there.
However, there are no dragons. (MWAHAHAHAH.) okay maybe if I change my mind on the setting, maybe.
Assuming I get that far.
@Michelle Studied? Yes, but probably things I either don't need to know, or things that are entirely too specific to need.
Frustration is part of the process, yes- especially when you can't anatomy anymore and the shoulders and neck look wrong entirely. (Some good anatomy classes/studies would be good)
However, I'm not really fantasizing. It's more like a statement. People who annoy me either follow me to my grave, Before my grave, or dissapear from my life and, eventually, die. It would be fantasizing if I imagined how they died...
At least, I think that's how it goes??
@El_Psy_Congroo This is some great feedback.
In fact, that point about killing NPCs is just really... Mindblowing. Slow twists are more painful than fast twists.
I hadn't ever really thought about basing characters off of or against my own personality, rather than just having them exist.
The last bit absolutely kills me, Hahah!
@Straw_Berry I feel awkward responding to really small posts, but even more awkward when I feel like I'm ignoring someone or glossing over a detail. I'll do a quick search on Ellen Brock when my mind isn't in the ocean.
@joannekwan But I feel even more awkward when I don't know what to say that I haven't already- Though, reviewers sound like a good source of info on, against, and toward bad ideas, and sometimes hefty amounts of salt. I'll consider it.
@haleymewsome The problem I'm having right now with just jumping into a random part of the story is that I don't have the characters for it (AI) and while I do have a really strong point that I can start from, I'm unsure of how to write a story backwards. Then again... I guess I'll just shove points in everywhere, so that if I'm having too much trouble going backwards, I can go forward.
Timeline graphs sound like they will be very important in my near future.
And at some point, I'll find out the right time to cut the beginning and end from the metaphorical story ribbon of life.

[monotone_ink]

Your ideas are good, now what you need to work on is expanding them to the point where you can make a story out of it. Write up some character sheets, details about the world the story is set in etc.

Plot-wise, I think one of the most important questions to ask yourself is this:

What's the end-game to all of this, and what kind of message do I want to convey?

The beginning and the end are probably the things you should work on first when you're writing your plot. With a beginning in mind, you know the starting block of the story, while having an end-goal gives the story a sense of purpose and clear movement.

When you have an end, and a message to tell the reader, writing becomes much simpler and straightforward.

[Michelle]

@Michelle Studied? Yes, but probably things I either don't need to know, or things that are entirely too specific to need.

You sound pretty self-assured about what you need to know for an admitted bad writer. If you're studying things that you don't think you need to know or are "too specific" to need, I suggest you look for better sources. There is a plethora of books about writing and comics that have a lot of great information to help you out.