- Joined
- May 12, 2008
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- 1,487
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- www.inkspot.com
This is my very first thread started here (I'm painfully shy so hate drawing attention to myself), so I do hope I've put it in the right place!
A tad of background first. I'm an amateur writer of really long fantasy/mythology serials (as well as novellas, novels, and some shorter stories, but almost everything is in or ties into a series in some way). I'm not looking to get published; I just like to post my writing to entertain people and hopefully to make a likeminded writer friend. This often makes me fear that others, for example those attempting to get published on this board, will consider me "not a real writer," so I hope this is just my social anxiety speaking and is mostly unfounded. In truth, I'm of the opinion that only I can tell what needs fixing in my stories (and it usually takes me a few years to realize this), so I just focus on trying to write something as entertaining and as well as I can.
Anyway, my main project is a series I call the "Manitou Island" series, which has so far spanned three serials--"Manitou Island" at 110 chapters, "Return To Manitou Island" at 139, and the current one, "Escape From Manitou Island" at 171 chapters and running. (And there's going to be a fourth.) Naturally, when things get this long you tend to lose track after a while...and that's what finally happened when I got to Pt. 171 of "EFMI." For some reason I just stalled out. Not because I ran out of ideas, but...I just stalled. I guess I got too confused by my own story!
I experienced this before with a different work when it just "derailed" and so I had to go back and take notes on it. I discovered a plot error that could have ruined the work. So I figured this was just my unconscious's way of telling me to halt, untangle the thing already, and then fix what needed to be fixed and pick up again. So...that's what I did. I halted writing on the series, and most writing in general, and started taking notes from the very beginning, Pt. 1 of "MI."
That took about a year and a half. I finally finished yesterday. WOOHOO!
The odd thing is...I didn't find any huge gaping plot holes or errors. :/ Smaller errors, yes, and I'm glad to have fixed them before posting them online...but nothing horrifically major. Puzzling. I'm wondering if maybe, then, my unconscious was telling me to just halt and take the time to figure out where the story is GOING (I know where, but there are a few MAJOR plot points that I haven't entirely figured out yet) before continuing willy-nilly. Well, I finally finished looking over the entire thing, and now I have to get back to the actual WRITING!
I'm kind of scared though, because it's been so long, what if I've lost it and forgotten how to write this story...? I realize it's kind of stupid to fear that I've FORGOTTEN HOW TO WRITE when I've been writing most of my life, but anyone reading this probably knows what I mean. It's hard to halt a story and pick up again after so much time, and hope to be able to do so without a hitch. I've already browsed the section I already have written of that chapter (so eerie to realize it was written so long ago!...it doesn't SEEM like that long...), and hope to start it up again soon (probably won't have the time today though as family is visiting...ugh).
So, that's what I accomplished recently and I hope it just gets better from here! I REALLY miss writing these characters. And I'm sick of spending four hours a day taking notes when I can only focus my attention for like an hour. And did I mention I miss these characters...? They've been stranded out in the snow with an evil medicine man and hostile spirits for ages now and are probably pretty irked at me.
Apologies if I was remiss in posting this! I just felt like crowing to people who might get where I'm coming from.
A tad of background first. I'm an amateur writer of really long fantasy/mythology serials (as well as novellas, novels, and some shorter stories, but almost everything is in or ties into a series in some way). I'm not looking to get published; I just like to post my writing to entertain people and hopefully to make a likeminded writer friend. This often makes me fear that others, for example those attempting to get published on this board, will consider me "not a real writer," so I hope this is just my social anxiety speaking and is mostly unfounded. In truth, I'm of the opinion that only I can tell what needs fixing in my stories (and it usually takes me a few years to realize this), so I just focus on trying to write something as entertaining and as well as I can.
Anyway, my main project is a series I call the "Manitou Island" series, which has so far spanned three serials--"Manitou Island" at 110 chapters, "Return To Manitou Island" at 139, and the current one, "Escape From Manitou Island" at 171 chapters and running. (And there's going to be a fourth.) Naturally, when things get this long you tend to lose track after a while...and that's what finally happened when I got to Pt. 171 of "EFMI." For some reason I just stalled out. Not because I ran out of ideas, but...I just stalled. I guess I got too confused by my own story!
I experienced this before with a different work when it just "derailed" and so I had to go back and take notes on it. I discovered a plot error that could have ruined the work. So I figured this was just my unconscious's way of telling me to halt, untangle the thing already, and then fix what needed to be fixed and pick up again. So...that's what I did. I halted writing on the series, and most writing in general, and started taking notes from the very beginning, Pt. 1 of "MI."
That took about a year and a half. I finally finished yesterday. WOOHOO!
The odd thing is...I didn't find any huge gaping plot holes or errors. :/ Smaller errors, yes, and I'm glad to have fixed them before posting them online...but nothing horrifically major. Puzzling. I'm wondering if maybe, then, my unconscious was telling me to just halt and take the time to figure out where the story is GOING (I know where, but there are a few MAJOR plot points that I haven't entirely figured out yet) before continuing willy-nilly. Well, I finally finished looking over the entire thing, and now I have to get back to the actual WRITING!
I'm kind of scared though, because it's been so long, what if I've lost it and forgotten how to write this story...?
I realize it's kind of stupid to fear that I've FORGOTTEN HOW TO WRITE when I've been writing most of my life, but anyone reading this probably knows what I mean. It's hard to halt a story and pick up again after so much time, and hope to be able to do so without a hitch. I've already browsed the section I already have written of that chapter (so eerie to realize it was written so long ago!...it doesn't SEEM like that long...), and hope to start it up again soon (probably won't have the time today though as family is visiting...ugh).So, that's what I accomplished recently and I hope it just gets better from here! I REALLY miss writing these characters. And I'm sick of spending four hours a day taking notes when I can only focus my attention for like an hour. And did I mention I miss these characters...? They've been stranded out in the snow with an evil medicine man and hostile spirits for ages now and are probably pretty irked at me.
Apologies if I was remiss in posting this! I just felt like crowing to people who might get where I'm coming from.
