The other night, I was talking to someone about my frustration with my current WIP. It's now just about 68k long. Plenty long enough for a mystery (especially since there are a good 4k worth of spots where my manuscript currently says things like "TRANSITION" or "DESCRIPTION"), but nowhere near the 85k it needs to be as standalone romantic suspense. And yet, it's not finished, and it's too long to be category-length even if it were.
Here's the problem: I'm tired of writing this story. I like the characters, I'm still excited by them and their predicaments, but I'm ready to be working on something else. Usually, I can control my ADD, but at this point every word is a fight. The thing is, I'm too close to the end to give up now and go work on something else. I have to finish it, then put it away for a bit while I work on something else, then come back to it. I know that's the only way I can make this work.
What do you do when the story stalls? When your characters rebel and tell you they don't feel like coming out to play? When turning on the computer irritates you?
Thursday, May 1, 2008
The Long Haul
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8 comments:
Laura, will it make you feel any better to know that the Bag Lady has been in a stall for approximately 30 years? She has only recently felt like writing again, and is having a terrible time getting started! It used to flow so easily, but she is really struggling, and wondering if she might just as well forget about it...
So; no sage advice for you. Just a little jealousy that you are so close to being done. And cheering for you to finish it!
Baggy Dearest,
I think of writing a story a lot like losing weight. In the beginning, it goes quickly. You're excited! You're willing to do whatever is necessary to make the pounds keep disappearing! And then reality sets in. And the closer you are to the end, the further away the finish line seems to get...
So...consider your 30-year stall a percolating period. All that stuff just needed time to mature. Now, I've only seen two sentences, but I know the rest is just as good! So let it all out! I'll kick your butt if you'll kick mine....
Laura,
This is the most difficult problem that writers face. I call it: "I'm tired of writing this, I just want it to be written, so I can do something else."
What about abandoning the ship for no more than two weeks and writng a short or short short? A complete change of pace brings you back to the wip with a rested brain and fresh eyes.
Terrie
Laura - good analogy. Did I mention how much trouble I have losing weight...:)
Thanks for that mental picture - I've been giggling all morning - the two of us walking down the street, stopping every so often to kick each other's butt...
Geez, Laura. When you figure it out let me in on the secret. If I'd only known how much of a slog it can be, I'd never have started.
Ah Lois- That's why it's good we don't know exactly what we're getting into.
For me, the stage Laura's at is critical to my "process", such as it is. I have to get so sick, so disgusted and fed up, so filled with loathing that I blast a final sprint to the finish line in a lather of rage and angst to be finally finished with the thing.
Then...a few days later... I'm very proud of myself and usually happy-ish with what I've done. But I haven't finished a big WIP yet without having to violently hate working on it at about the 80% mark or thereabouts.
Dear BL- You never know what you'll learn until you push through the self-raised obstacles. I'm always discouraged during the journey, but then always surprised by the end. If you stop too early-- even if you're not loving the prose-- you may miss the epiphany that illuminates how to fix it.
Thanks, Clare - I'll try to keep that in mind while I slog away! Those self-raised obstacles are always the highest, aren't they?
I can't tell you how heartening it is to know I am not alone. You always hear people saying how they write because they "must," because they can't stop themselves, yada, yada, yada. I was beginning to feel as if I was the only one whose calling sometimes sounded rather faint!
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