The Ernormity of the Task

[Octagon]

I'm beginning to feel motivated to write a short story, but I find it difficult to begin because the enormity of the task of planning it is intimidating to me.

So I need some help getting started. I think that software for planning stories would greatly help me, as it would show me the things I need to plan, and would help me to do the planning. Do any of you use this kind of software, and can I find this software for free?

[Caulder Melhaire]

I've used (well, still do, depending on the project) Scrivener, which is decidedly not free, outside of the trial period, but has been a huge benefit with my planning. As someone who once had a binder filled with paper notes, it's very helpful to be able to split those up into separate docs while keeping them all together. I find word documents... claustrophobic LOL. So it's nice to be able to have a sidebar with one folder for all my lore/magic/history/language documents, one folder for character profiles, and one for all my story chapters that I can see laid out and just click between with minimal searching. I mostly use that for my novel projects, because they're already well plotted in there.

I'm also currently using Obsidian, which does have a free option! It's a similar storyboarding software, has a lot of graphing options, but also a lot fewer frills than Scrivener. Which, tbh, is what I mainly use it as my word processor for short stories or quick writes. Fewer distractions, fewer bells and whistles, has a nice dark theme to write in that doesn't burn my eyes. Also has a similar sidebar, so I can have a list of short stories or projects in their own little subfolders without feeling cramped.

(I also like Obsidian because I don't have access to Office apps anymore, and I've never been able to get comfortable with the open office versions...)

[Octagon]

Thank you for your recommendations.

Right now, as the keyboard on my laptop has a broken key, I can't do any serious writing; but I plan to write a short story as soon as I've bought a new laptop. However, I don't know how much I will feel like writing it when the time comes.

[ScintillaMyntan]

I wouldn't stress too much about planning a short story. With a novel, thorough planning makes more sense, but with just a short story, it might make it seem a lot harder than it is. You've seen enough stories in your life to know what stories should be like. You don't need to think systematically about what happens in the beginning and the end and the climax or whatever, since not all stories even follow the same patterns, and you probably have an intuitive grasp of how your story could go once you begin writing.

Do you have an idea already? If so, what I do is just give the narrative a general progression in my head and then start writing it.

[Octagon]

I still haven't bought a new laptop yet, as I lack sufficient money; therefore, I can't write any short stories because the only tools I have for writing, my pens and my phone, make the process of writing laborious for me, being slow.

[Octagon]

Oct 30, 2022 15:58:40 GMT -6 ScintillaMyntan said:

I wouldn't stress too much about planning a short story. With a novel, thorough planning makes more sense, but with just a short story, it might make it seem a lot harder than it is. You've seen enough stories in your life to know what stories should be like. You don't need to think systematically about what happens in the beginning and the end and the climax or whatever, since not all stories even follow the same patterns, and you probably have an intuitive grasp of how your story could go once you begin writing.

Do you have an idea already? If so, what I do is just give the narrative a general progression in my head and then start writing it.

Okay. Maybe I'll try that instead.

I haven't come up with a good idea yet.