Stories vs Scenes

So, I have realized something about myself. I am fantastic at writing scenes. I am terrible at writing stories.

I can evoke emotions, induce wonder and awe, and create tension.

But I cannot tie things together with a strong plot. I don't have a story, I have a series of related scenes that create the vague impression of a story. And this isn't a thing I can even begin to work on. Every time I try to plot, I am simply flailing wildly. Usually without even realizing I am flailing. I have always known I'm a relatively bad plotter, but recent introspection has revealed to me how extremely bad I am at it.

What I need is advice, guidance, resources to plunder for valuable nuggets of helpful information. I don't know how to plot, and I don't know how to learn how to plot. How do I learn how to plot? I need to be pointed in the right direction here.

That's the advantage of having writing friends. I can ask for help, and they'll be able to understand the question. I'm going to sleep on this for now, and when I wake up, if I still feel like all I can do is flail, I'm going to bug some of my friends for advice.

Goodnight y'all.

Apparently flash fiction sells online

A friend linked me to a post today about flash fiction markets:

http://lizzshepherd.suite101.com/flash-fiction-markets-online-a278787

This interests me. Sure, it's not much money. And the information is a bit out of date, so some of the sites have changed. But it's a way to get my writing out there, and make a little extra cash to get me through some financially tough times.

My primary concern is that I don't generally write flash fiction. I tend towards longer fiction, usually of novel length. I'm a writer of door-stoppers, or at least a planner of door-stoppers. Writing shorter fiction is going to be a challenge for me. But, I think, an interesting challenge. And if I can make an extra twenty or fifty dollars a month off of it, well then that's great.

I'm definitely going to give it a shot. I haven't got much to lose.