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Kersplat. Victory is so fleeting. What's worse? I spent the better part of this week searching for 2.5 lost chapters. Today I was so relieved to have my fine-tuned, edited chapters back, and I giddily pasted them into my big book document. Then my eyeball took a closer look. Sigh. The dialogue alone still needs a lot of work and I'm sure if I dug deeper, the chapters as a whole does too.
Now, I'm fighting a serious case of the this-is-a-crappy-book blues.
Do I know this feeling is common? Yep. But it's not cheering me up. How do you know that what you're writing really isn't crap? Because clearly, crap exists. Otherwise everyone would get published.
The only thing that keeps me forging ahead with this WIP is that I feel in my gut, in my spirit, that this isn't my story, that it's a story given to me- not in any kind of divine write these exact words in this exact order kind of way- but in a it's my job to give this story a voice way. If I didn't feel so strongly that it was my job to write this story, I'd drop it in a heartbeat.
So, next task? Keep adding to that edited word count and while I'm at it, try to keep it crap-free so that the next edit-go-round isn't so painful.
I'm also trying not to get distracted by story arcs, tension, secondary characters, etc... I need to have the story written first. Then I can play with moving things around and revving things up and solving all the other dilemmas.
Let me know if I'm way off on that. I don't want to waste time here.
Well, that's your WIP update.
Review: WOO-HOO for finally getting my edited words counter to budge, and OOH-OOW at realizing how much is left.
:grabbing a few pieces of dark chocolate and heading back to the keyboard:
5 comments:
Chin up. You're a great writer.
So long as you promise you're not pinching your nose closed as you say that, then I'll believe you. :winks: Thanks, Phyllis :)
I am SO like that. Been reading through my Biblical fiction and it needs SOOOOOOOOOOOO much work. A ridiculous amount. But progress, of ANY sort, is GOOOODDD! :)
Congrats on your forward progress!!!! Maddie and I are inching our way forward on edits, too. Things are beginning to "plink" into place. A writer friend of mine advised us to pour concrete everyday. Don't fret over yesterday's concrete (unless it TRULY needs revision), just pour today's concrete.
Pour concrete enough days and you'll make your goal. So that's how I've been thinking about it. Forget perfection, pour the concrete. Polish on the next round.
And like Phyllis said--you're a great writer.
pour the concrete, eh? sounds awfully solid. what if I need a jackhammer next time? :) oh, you mean stop obsessing and keep moving FORWARD... :)I swear I just gave someone else this advice the other day.. should practice what I preach more often.
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