As a writer, working on a fictional story is one of the most exciting and nerve-racking feelings ever. The freedom in writing a fiction is often what makes it difficult to compose. The woes start from the very top with the title and do not end till you have reached the conclusion.

THE TITLE

The problem starts with the one thing people remember more than the story itself. You want to make your title interesting and make it sing to your readers. Yet, you don’t want it to give away what your story is about. Now how do you do that? Or you could just go ahead with a simple title that summarises your entire story in seven to eight words maximum. Wonder how popular Harry Potter would’ve been if it was titled “The Orphan Who Didn’t Know He’s a Wizard”.   

NAMING THE CHARACTERS

The names of your characters are just as significant as the characters themselves. Writers throughout the ages have put in a lot of effort in naming the characters. They try to name them in a way such that the names will symbolise the character’s personality or perhaps will tell us a bit about their past. Names are often the centre of attention and dispute and can play a vital role in the plot of your story. But to do that, you need to make sense of the connection that exists between your characters’ names and their relation to the plot, like that Martha scene from Batman vs. Superman.

HOW COMPLICATED IS TOO COMPLICATED

The quality of your story depends on how you plot it in your mind and how you actually end up writing it. You will often think of a scenario in your head which will seem amazing to you at first but when you put it on paper, you will realise that some of the elements are either missing or just not adding up. Such is the problem when you are trying to compose a story with a sophisticated plot. In your attempt to make the story complex, you might end up leaving it completely disoriented and with lots of plot holes. Such inconsistency will surely affect your story and your dreams of becoming the next Christopher Nolan.            

DECIDING THE END

All that matters in the end is the end itself – how you want the ending of your story to be. Whether it will be a happy, tragic or a bittersweet ending is completely in your own hands. The genre of your story often predetermines the way it might end and your readers will be expecting same. However, if you want, you can change the way your story reaches its conclusion. This is where you get indecisive. Concluding a story is more difficult than it seems. All the hard work you put into your writing can become worthless if you mess up the conclusion. No pressure; don’t disappoint your readers by making unnecessary plot twists.         

With freedom, comes responsibilities and woes as well. The liberty to give shape to your own story can be very daunting. As a writer, the only thing you can do to tackle this is to keep plodding ahead, one problem at a time.

Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/shout/skills/news/woes-writing-fiction-1711342. Reproduced for educational purposes.