Monday, March 16, 2015

Take My Advice

Struggling to write this one sums up my writing efforts during the past few weeks.  Inspired by fellow Relentless Writer, Janice M. Wilson's post:  NEW SHIRT, NEW SHOES, NEW STORY, I dusted off one of the old stories and tried to get it going again.


In trying to relight the fire of the story, I also decided to "take my writing seriously" and do things like read Stephen King's On Writing and do an outline.  Since I'm trying to write a mystery, my thought process was based on that King ethic that if I'm going to have something happen later, I sure as heck better set it up at the beginning of the story.  I also did the whole "kill your darlings" thing to streamline certain relationships and iron out timeline issues I've struggled with through the whole story.

And let me just put this on the record:  THIS IS THE MOST FRUSTRATING THING I'VE EVER DONE!

I want to burn the whole thing like love letters in a fire filled barrel on Valentine's Day.  Since it takes place in a small community of New Jersey McMansions (thus far, last night I wondered what would happen if I moved it to Seattle), I want to burn all the houses down and collect the insurance money.  The latter is what someone did to get his footing in real estate, but I guess you can witness that whenever this story gets out of my damn head.  I even forgot I had that part set up in my head as something to use.  Hence why I'm trying to outline.

Now that the embers of my frustration are cooling, I can say that I am in love with this story again, as I am with my other story.  I unearthed a couple things that became my darlings and got rid of a lot of stuff I just had no interest in and didn't seem like it would payoff for the audience.

But now to set some deadlines.

And how's your writing going in 2015?


12 comments:

  1. "I want to burn the whole thing like love letters in a fire filled barrel on Valentine's Day."

    As much as I love that line, I hope you don't burn your story, because I'm sure it's fantastic.And if you do decide to move it to Seattle, let me know so I can help with a local perspective. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Totally feel you. Frustration is the name of the game.

    ReplyDelete
  3. LOL Alex! That's a perfect hashtag! Don't burn anything. Put it into a nice little file. You can go though when you're in another frame of mind. Sometimes that's all you need--small shift to the left and it all falls into place. Or, just kill off a darling.

    ReplyDelete
  4. If it makes you feel better Alex, my agent just asked me to rewrite an entire manuscript. Now I'm pulling my hair out.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think if you "don't" go through those burning periods something is wrong LOL We all hit those points in our manuscript. It's a daily trial and tribulation. But the beauty of it is coming out on the other side with a story you love, you put your heart and soul into.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good point, Janet. I must say my desire to just get this thing on the page is back!

      -A

      Delete
  6. Somedays I have to scream and ask myself 'WHY do I do this to myself?!'. I know it - but don't burn it up. tuck it away and work on something else! (thanks for referring to my article! :) )

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very welcome Janet! Looking at it from a new perspective has definitely had more goods than bads!

      -A

      Delete