What is it when you just can't continue with a story?

[MrsSnape]

In the space of two years I have started around 5 'books'. Only one of them has managed to get past the introductary pages.

I just get bored of my stories so quickly and it's starting to bother me that I can never finish anything.

A few of my stories I still like and I WANT to continue but when I sit down to write, I just don't know what to do to move it along.

[Litchick]

This happens to me a lot - my mind crowds with ideas that all seem great at the time.
What I do now is draft a detailed plan.
This tells me which ideas are what I call 'sparkles' ie they are shiny and attractive but no substance.
A story that can sustain a five or more page plan has legs.
It also has the advantage of being something you can then work from to keep you on track.
Then it is a matter of steel will power - forcing yourself to sit down and write.
Publisher's deadlines are very good for this

[Bleuravin]

Yes, tell me how to get a publisher's dealine and then I'll tell you if it helps me...
I find that when I try to write the stories chronologically I have much more trouble than when I just sit down and focus on scenes which I later join together into a proper sequence...perhaps this too will help.

[BlaDeBla]

Yes, I like having a structure to work with. It makes filling in the words far easier. Finding or creating the structure is practice, and something I need lots more of! I think it also helps to simplify the idea, and then you can expand on it once you have stripped it down. Sometimes it's this that can help you find out if the idea will work.

[rosmerta]

This happens to me as well. A suggestion given to me was to have your characters having dinner or going for a walk, and write the conversation they would have, what they would eat or see.

It works for me as it really makes me think about the characters & I usually, though not always, get something from it to be able to carry on.