Have you ever worked on something that no matter how bad, or rough, or even broken the first draft was, you saw a story worthy of being told?
That’s how my current WIP is, something I believed in from the spark of inspiration, to my current draft of it, and it’s been through so many drafts I can’t count them all.
I’ve recently come to the conclusion that I started too late in my story and have to back up. That by itself wouldn’t be so bad, but couple that with the fact the all the feedback I received on is that “It needs work to be publishable” or “I’m not interested” starts to get to you after awhile. Sure, it takes time to have a polished MS, but if this cycle of people not getting it repeats for four years, it’s natural to get frustrated.
Ultimately, I’ve come to realize I need to rethink my WIP and give it a breath of fresh air. It’s hard because I thought I knew the story like the back of my hand for so long, and now I’m questioning if everything I’ve done these past four years has been worthless. But then I remind myself that maybe it’s a good thing, maybe this means I know the basics of the story, but need a different way of writing it.
When I wrote the first draft, I didn’t know 1/8 of what I know now, about the characters, and the overall structure of the events. I think that’s why it hurts more to feel as if I don’t know the story anymore because I know the characters so much better than when I started.
One of the things I fear the most is that the only way to make the story work, I have to take it to places that are heartbreaking for me. I’ve heard countless authors say that in order to get the story right, you have to be willing to face the darkness, and I’m not talking about Horror fiction. I mean you have to allow shades of grey in your work so things aren’t all brightness and rainbows.
I thought I’d done that, especially because the story is about a broken friendship. But maybe I don’t do it enough, or in the wrong way. It seems that a lot of the books that are popular right now have a dark edge about them, and while I I’ve read them and enjoy them, I’m just not comfortable writing that way. I want to entertain with my work, I want people to laugh and have fun with my stories. Now there are moments in my story where you might cry or feel the pain of a character, but I can’t write in that dark. Grey, unhappy place all the way through.
Has anyone ever felt like they don’t know certain things about their WIP, no matter how much they’ve worked on it?
(If you’re interested, here’s the first chapter of my WIP)
MG Novel - Chapter 1 - 1,273 words
That’s how my current WIP is, something I believed in from the spark of inspiration, to my current draft of it, and it’s been through so many drafts I can’t count them all.
I’ve recently come to the conclusion that I started too late in my story and have to back up. That by itself wouldn’t be so bad, but couple that with the fact the all the feedback I received on is that “It needs work to be publishable” or “I’m not interested” starts to get to you after awhile. Sure, it takes time to have a polished MS, but if this cycle of people not getting it repeats for four years, it’s natural to get frustrated.
Ultimately, I’ve come to realize I need to rethink my WIP and give it a breath of fresh air. It’s hard because I thought I knew the story like the back of my hand for so long, and now I’m questioning if everything I’ve done these past four years has been worthless. But then I remind myself that maybe it’s a good thing, maybe this means I know the basics of the story, but need a different way of writing it.
When I wrote the first draft, I didn’t know 1/8 of what I know now, about the characters, and the overall structure of the events. I think that’s why it hurts more to feel as if I don’t know the story anymore because I know the characters so much better than when I started.
One of the things I fear the most is that the only way to make the story work, I have to take it to places that are heartbreaking for me. I’ve heard countless authors say that in order to get the story right, you have to be willing to face the darkness, and I’m not talking about Horror fiction. I mean you have to allow shades of grey in your work so things aren’t all brightness and rainbows.
I thought I’d done that, especially because the story is about a broken friendship. But maybe I don’t do it enough, or in the wrong way. It seems that a lot of the books that are popular right now have a dark edge about them, and while I I’ve read them and enjoy them, I’m just not comfortable writing that way. I want to entertain with my work, I want people to laugh and have fun with my stories. Now there are moments in my story where you might cry or feel the pain of a character, but I can’t write in that dark. Grey, unhappy place all the way through.
Has anyone ever felt like they don’t know certain things about their WIP, no matter how much they’ve worked on it?
(If you’re interested, here’s the first chapter of my WIP)
MG Novel - Chapter 1 - 1,273 words
. A little depressing is alright, but what I do is just mind-numbing and ultimately boring since there is nothing happy to contrast it with. I still don't know why these characters don't just lie down and die. It doesn't make much sense unless they are secretly taking happy pills.
