I just need to vent/cry and burn off some frustration so I can focus again. I'm in the process of revising my WIP. As I'm going along I realize I have 2 huge problems. Number 1, there is no imagination in this thing (which is very, very bad because it's supposed to be fantasy). Somewhere along the line I started backing off of things saying, "That's stupid," or, "No one will believe this." So now it is pretty darn boring. In places where I could have done something fantastic, I settled for mediocre. I hate that I did that.
Problem number 2: I knew I had an issue with a critical plot area all along. I could never quite solve the puzzle of why my MC and the person she loves couldn't be together and make it work/believable in the context of the story and the world they're living in. I sort of forced a square peg into a round hole and it was messing with the whole story. Regardless, I just kept pushing on through the first draft in the interest of finishing, figuring something would work out eventually. Well, today I figured it out, but the answer to the problem changes the entire work. Not just a little bit, but how the characters relate to one another, the supporting characters, the plot, etc. all have to change. Pretty much it becomes a different story.
So basically, I'm no longer revising. I'm starting over. I think some things will survive into the next work, but it won't be much. This is good news because now I can work harder on problem number one and not back off things so much, but it stinks because it took me eight months to get to this point and now it'll probably take another eight to come up with a new draft.
Sorry, I just had to cry a little bit. Even though I know this is part of the process, it feels like wasted time and effort to just chuck this whole thing and start over. But I know in the end it's the right thing to do because it will be a better story. But it doesn't make me any less frustrated.
Problem number 2: I knew I had an issue with a critical plot area all along. I could never quite solve the puzzle of why my MC and the person she loves couldn't be together and make it work/believable in the context of the story and the world they're living in. I sort of forced a square peg into a round hole and it was messing with the whole story. Regardless, I just kept pushing on through the first draft in the interest of finishing, figuring something would work out eventually. Well, today I figured it out, but the answer to the problem changes the entire work. Not just a little bit, but how the characters relate to one another, the supporting characters, the plot, etc. all have to change. Pretty much it becomes a different story.
So basically, I'm no longer revising. I'm starting over. I think some things will survive into the next work, but it won't be much. This is good news because now I can work harder on problem number one and not back off things so much, but it stinks because it took me eight months to get to this point and now it'll probably take another eight to come up with a new draft.
Sorry, I just had to cry a little bit. Even though I know this is part of the process, it feels like wasted time and effort to just chuck this whole thing and start over. But I know in the end it's the right thing to do because it will be a better story. But it doesn't make me any less frustrated.
