Those of you following my blog will know that I’ve been participating in the #WIPMarathon – a group of authors who hang out on social media while writing on a given work-in-progress. We support each other, shower each other with virtual confetti when milestones are reached, share in frustrations and lament writerly set-backs. It’s a great little community and I’m delighted to be a part of it, but this innocuous little hashtag reveals a great truth brought to you in gifs featuring Stephen Amell and Matt Lanter…
Writing is a workout!
No pain… No gain!
Writing a novel in excess of 50, 000 words often takes blood, sweat and sore finger tips. Sometimes books write themselves in a momentary fart of divine inspiration. That happened with Obscura Burning. I had that drafted in about 3 weeks. But that is a rare and special event unlikely to repeat itself.
For the past year I’ve been working on a New Adult sci-fi manuscript. (Bear in mind I managed to write two entire YA novels between sessions on this NA monstrosity and edit one of those YA books for publication.) I must be writing the sixth iteration of this NA story now and every day is a struggle. This week in particular has been a rough one for me and my manuscript with a lot of plot rehashing, character axing and scene deletion. Problem is, no matter what I change, something just isn’t working. I’m missing that magic, that spark… it’s just… well, see below…
Nope, not working :/
I have a sneaky suspicion about what the problem might be. See, a year ago this story started out as a very weird, surrealistic sci-fi piece with a literary bent. I abandoned that version for something simpler and more accessible. I abandoned that version for something less dark and dramatic. I abandoned that version for something more action packed and science fictiony. Then BOOM! I was assaulted by a Shiny New Idea and experienced a moment of shifty-eyed awesomeness when I realised I could rewrite my WIP incorporating said new idea.
Why yes I could do that. In fact, I think I will…
Yet another rewrite and my WIP was a mess of ideas, of half-finished plot lines, of subplots that went no-where and of a gazillion characters I had trouble keeping track of. It was a spaghetti mess with way too much going on. I’d taken my quirky romance and tried to turn it into a sci-fi epic. Despite liking some of the new things going on, I knew it still wasn’t working and that throwing more cool stuff (you know, like aliens, explosions, murder, mayhem and international corporate espionage) at the page wasn’t helping the story at all. I had to take a moment and take a step back to appreciate the catastrophe I’d created.
Seriously? What are you doing?
After almost a year of working on this story, of falling in and out of love with my characters, of hashing and rehashing the plot, of creating some of the most amazing scenes I’ve ever written and starting to think in the Texan drawl of my protagonist, there was just no way I was prepared to give up on this novel. I turned old school. I sat on the floor with colored pens and paper, and I started mind-mapping and redrafting, revising the plot and characters and theme from the ground up. And it worked! Things started falling into place. Those new ideas found a home in new scenes with a tweaking of the central theme. My beloved characters could stay put, it was only their story trajectory that needed adjusting. Yes! I was amped, I was excited. One more rewrite and this WIP would be a finished novel!
You’re getting there. Sorta.
That happened earlier this week and after some ruthless editing and restructuring, I managed to bash my manuscript into shape and assemble something close to a half decent story, if now 30k shorter and not really a novel anymore (sitting just below 50k for the umpteenth time!) However, I’ve once again reached a point where things just aren’t coming together how I want them to, but this time I know exactly why…
Come on! Not this again…
As a pantser-plotter hybrid, I once again find myself with my back against the plot wall for one magnificent reason. I have no idea how this story should end. I have no idea how the subplots will wrap up. I have no idea how I want the conflict to resolve. Sure, I know who my characters need to be by the end of it and where I don’t want the story to go, but that’s not enough. Until I figure out how to end this story, I’m basically just treading water and ambling from one scene to the next without a clear direction for resolution. I know what I need to fix, it’s just a matter of getting it done.
So why is writing like a workout? Because this week, working on my story has felt a lot like this:
and this…
and this…
So, yeah. I’m feeling rather battered this week. But I remain optimistic because nothing worth doing is ever easy, right? And all this WIP needs is a decent ending. I’m not sure when inspiration will strike or when I’ll finally be able to write ‘The End’ on this one, but writing is rewriting and it’s a process I love, just like I love the pain and strain of a tough workout because when it’s eventually over that endorphine rush will kick in and that high will make all the blood, sweat and rewriting worth it.
Do you ever feel like writing is a workout? Any tips or tricks you want to share?
