I am stuck.....Need help.

I'll suggest something out of left field: Go to the SYW forum and do critiques. It's both a break from the books and a fresh way of looking at yours (by looking at someone else's).

Co-writer and I had one book we had finished and were sending to agents and another one we were starting on. The second book ran into some unspecified difficulties in the first fifty pages. The first one got 63 rejections from agents without even a request for chapters. We put it in front of a critique group and got a lot of comments back, all very diverse, and some confusing and puzzling. We knew enough that it signaled there was a problem that needed to do be fixed, but what was it? I didn't want to wander around in revision, trying to fix a problem without knowing what the problem was. Doing critiques of other people's work suddenly made it clear what we needed to fix because everyone was doing the same things. Not only did we realize what we needed to do, we realized that the same issues were already starting to turn up in the second one. Evidently, we both had picked up on it, but until we gained new knowledg, we didn't understand what we were seeing.

So, just by doing critiques, you're going to get a fresh outlook on your story that you haven't had before.

Hi - I think we all have stumbling blocks and editing is problematic.

Try reading through work 1 really quickly, as if you're looking at someone else's novel. When you've finished - and it probably won't take you more than a few hours - ask yourself what you came away from the book feeling?

I did this recently and it was very helpful for writing a much better synopsis but also in analysing how I felt about my characters. This only works with space, which you've given yourself.

Editing is tough: sometimes you have to re-write whole chapters, cut others, change the order of events, create new ones.

Whatever you do, don't feel bound by what you've created already. Just try to make your basic story shine and your characters too and then you'll feel good about things.

Maybe get someone to read it and comment. I wouldn't personally start a second project with that one hanging there unsatisfactorily. Finishing one will make you more confident about finishing a second, and a third, and a fourth, etc.

All the best to you and please don't feel down. I think most of us on this board have been where you sound like you are!

Writing is work. No one ever said this was an easy profession. You have to force yourself to do those edits. If you put it aside and don't tackle it, it will never be completed.

One avenue was presented: put it in Share Your Work and have it critiqued.

The other is to print it out and get several red pens and just go to town on it. Spare nothing. I find it much easier to edit hard copy then to edit onscreen.

Editing on hard-copy is (IMHO) best.

Also: consider retyping the entire thing from hardcopy, giving yourself permission to make changes as you go.

Aw Raphee, sorry to hear that you're struggling. I'm going through a bit of a bad patch myself. IMO, if you put your 1st novel away now, it's the same as giving up. Likely the difficulty and lack of enthusiasm you're having with the 2nd novel stems from knowing you haven't properly finished the first.

Print the whole novel out. Read it from cover to cover. Be brutal in your edits. Rewrite or cut your darlings if you have to. Do your work justice and make it the best you can. After you've done that, I predict, your inspiration for the 2nd novel will return to you.

Best of luck!

Discipline. If I find mine, I will share some with you....

Print it out, set aside x amount of time each day, this is the time you spend editing.

Taking a day or two off my help, but at least in my case I never like to take too much time off as I may forget minor details that while being minor still need to be consistant and not forgotten.

Consider purchasing Donald Maass's Writing the breakout novel Workbook. His book is great, but the workbook is perfect for punching up scenes, characters, etc. I think it would help your process, though you may regret it because you'll be making changes you can't imagine at this point. Good luck.

Michael Murphy
Suspense is just a click away...
www.mjmurphy.com

James D. Macdonald said:

Editing on hard-copy is (IMHO) best.

Also: consider retyping the entire thing from hardcopy, giving yourself permission to make changes as you go.

Click to expand...

Excellent suggestion, and part of the reason in the writing stage, I often write longhand and then transfer to the computer.

Don't give up. I tend to give myself breaks, and unfortunately, those breaks usually last and last and last and last. The suggestion of assigning yourself a certain time for editing is good, as long as you stick to it.

Good luck! I'm sure we've all been where you are, and that we're all pulling for you.

I have the same problem though for me it's a procrastination and discipline problem.

The more I avoid it, the harder it becomes to go back.

At least in my case.

Due to this I have since moved to writing in long hand therefore the major edit is done while I am typing it up.

Raphee -

I know the feeling. For me, editing is harder than writing the first draft. Here are a couple of techniques that have worked for me in the past:

- Set yourself a time limit. Tell yourself you will start submitting this story for publication by June 1st, or whatever works for you. A looming deadline is wonderful for creativity...for mine, at least.

- Post it for critique, or find some good betas you trust to give you good feedback. Some of the comments you get will probably make you mad enough to get back to work.

- Read one of your favorite authors, and try to figure out what he or she does that you like, and how. Also think about what he or she does that you don't like, and why.

- Linda's suggestion to do some critiquing is a great one. I learned a lot about my own writing by critiquing others.

- Don't you dare give up!

HN

I'm having the same problem Had a wonderful January, could hardly keep up with my fingers, Feb arrived and someone shut the door on my muse!!!!

I spend time each day simply writing to a blank page, sometimes its rantings, but occasionally I get enoough to give me a short. Never know when that 'short' can be incorporated into the bigger WIP.

Don't get despondent it happens to pretty well all of us at sometime.

I've found at times if I don't 'listen' to what mu characters want, they go off into a dark corner and sulk for days!!!! rofl

Hope you muse come back to you soon.

It could also be that you didn't give yourself quite enough time between finishing and editing, and that's why you're spotting problems without any energy arriving to help fix them.

I agree with PeeDee. Two months may not have been enough time to wash out your brain. Spend some time reading other authors' work--published good stuff and beginner posts. Have a clear idea in your head about what a good novel is before editing your own.

Also, if you haven't already done so, write a query/synopsis. It may help you focus your characters and their dilemmas.

But I think a good beta reader is your best bet, one who will tell you what they didn't like.

Good Luck!

It can also help to get busy with another project. It wasn't until I got seriously buried under work on my serial stuff that I realized what was wrong with my novel, and how to fix it.

(the irony can of course be that you then realize how to fix it, but have no free time to do so. )

Raphee, it sounds like the struggle you're having is similar to the one I have had with my current WIP.

I wrote the first 45,000 words in first person, but decided that the story was too limited from just one perspective, so I changed it all to third. Then one of my characters insisted on speaking in first person -- and by that I mean I would literally look up from two or three hours of writing to find that once again she had been blabbing away in first person when I had started the session writing her in third. I give up, with her. She's just going to do what she does.

I'm no expert -- far from it, in fact; I'm a noob -- but I think at a certain point you just have to go with what you have, otherwise you end up in limbo, endlessly re-writing the same story. My gut feeling is that if you do that eventually you'll just lose your enthusiasm. Mine certainly waned until I got past the point where I was in my first go round.

Out of curiosity, how long is your novel if you were able to cut 40K words?

I read my whole novel aloud to my wife (bless her soul). Reading aloud helps a lot, especially with dialogue.

I can't help thinking Raphee, that you are not really sure about your story yourself, so I am not sure we can guide you. I will suggest this: try writing some synopses. You will have to do it for your query anyway. I am working on my query letter right now, and it is hard, but it has made me focus in on why I am telling the story.

Doing this might clarify for you exactly what the book is about, which might help you decide better which characters you need or don't, and which POV you need and why.

PeeDee said:

It can also help to get busy with another project. It wasn't until I got seriously buried under work on my serial stuff that I realized what was wrong with my novel, and how to fix it.

(the irony can of course be that you then realize how to fix it, but have no free time to do so. )

Click to expand...

What Pee Dee said.

That's what I did when I put my current WIP away for a couple of months. I worked on a couple of short stories that came to mind.

Maybe you can try what I did to get some ideas.

I'm a huge old-time movie fan - love the movies from the 1930s and 1940s, can quote from them, etc. Also, my parents grew up during the Depression, so I have another connection to that time. I decided to marry those two ideas to a fantasy element - werewolves - and came up with a story about a werewolf having a go at it as a singer/actress on Broadway during the 1930s. (Ooo, just writing those words makes me want to jump back into editing it.)

So...is there a particular time in history you'd like to write about in short story form? Or maybe there's a hobby you have that can be worked into a short story. Whatever genre you tend to like or write in, add in those elements. Then start to write, either on the computer or long hand (I started out in long hand with this particular short story, then transferred it to the computer). And keep writing. It doesn't matter how much you write in an hour or a day; it doesn't matter if it doesn't make any sense at this point, nor how long it is (mine originally was up to 5,000 words with a lot use unnecessary words therein). Just keep writing until you reach some sort of an ending.

Put it aside for a day or two. Go back to it. As you read it, does it look like there's a decent story in there? Or is it all gobbledy-gook, ready for the trash can or the Delete key? Fine, either way. I also wrote another story in a similar celebrity/movie star vein which I don't think will see the light of day because it doesn't work for me.

Go through the story again and start shaping it. Prune unnecessary words and scenes. I've used the Scene and Sequel method (mentioned by Dwight Swain in his book; and Jim Butcher came up with a nice, succinct explanation on his blog which I use). I'm about halfway through the editing, and I feel it's really coming together.

Put the short story/stories aside. Go back to the first novel. This is what I've done, and, FWIW, I not only came back with fresh eyes to my WIP, but I was more enthusiastic about hitting the revision phase. My thinking is because I was so enthusiastic about the short story, I've transferred that emotion to my WIP; and it's not like I haven't been pruning, either, as I threw out almost the entire opening chapter.

This is something every serious writer goes through (and I've had more than my fair share, let me tell you, of procrastination and doubts).

Another thought: Do you have a blog? Sometimes, just by blogging, it kicks my creative juices into gear, makes me think about my WIP. Something else you might consider.

Just a lot of thoughts, here, as to what you might do. Good luck - and don't give up!

~Nancy