What's On Your Mind About Your Writing?

Sarahrizz said:

....

And I'm a perfectionist who can't just write past this and come back to it later. ....

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I know we all have our quirks and habits but this seems like a destructive one.

I mean, why create barriers for yourself? Just sayin'. You don't need to explain or defend it, just think about it.

Yesterday, I had what I thought was a brilliant idea for my WIP. It would be a plot development to explain why an expected vote went in the opposite directions to the benefit of the White Hats. I thought it was neat and it fits in with the story.

This morning, I am having second thoughts, because the action would feature secondary characters. My MC has his hands full and I can't give him more narrative responsibilities. Forcing him into the new plot development would mean gutting what I have already written. I don't mind heavy revising, but this is a non-starter. So I would have to hand over the baton temporarily to a secondary character.

I have written extensive notes and I think I shall work towards the finish and then see where I am.

I just learned a valuable lesson:

close third POV is a great way to bring a character to life.

Having your POV character be sick and disoriented in close third is super-neat-o and fun to write.

Having your close third POV character sick and disoriented at the outset of a book DOES NOT HELP YOUR READER TO ENGAGE.

Tepelus said:

I guess two out of three ain't bad.

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Huh?

I find myself thinking about my MC and how she would respond to situations I imagine when I'm out in the community. I have a general outline for my WIP1, but the MC surprises me from time to time. More like all the time. I find she is grieving and terrified after being released from prison. Walking on the edge takes its toll, I finally figured out what event could drive her into rage. Exactly where she needs to be for the rest of the book.

I decided WIP2 is allowed to be a collection of shorter stories like Sherlock Holmes novels. I was putting myself under a lot of pressure for volume and I finally evaluated the types of situations that MC tends to conjure would work in a group of short stories. I wish I could say I have no pressure on myself at all.

It was a goal to get published this year, I do feel slightly let down. I need to reevaluate my focus. I love the characters I have for my series, but I want to give serious thought to what articles I would write if I switched to a different type of freelance.

That's my brain on writing.

I've persevered in that space for ages. Definitely nice to get a bit of recognition.

Getting ready for the big 'one last time' (famous last words) edit after beta reader feedback. So much more to learn about upping my game re first person POV narration. Got a lot of work ahead of me.

Returning to a manuscript after about 6 months away to finish it.

What's on my mind? Humility.

Got back the beta results on something I'd been proud of.

I don't have to tell you about pride and falling, I suppose.

This can be such a lonely hobby/job/vocation/what-have-you. I'm at that point in drafting/outlining where I need to marinate in my story and not talk about it to others so their reactions don't get into my head, but that means I'm spending large portions of my day in my own headspace and can't even share it with others. I'm probably in a bad mood already, but this isn't helping!

I should get back to working on my novel and editing according to my betas' critiques, but that last beta really knocked my enthusiasm back several notches. I need to get over it and get back to work.

I'm re-structuring the plot I'm currently digging through - I feel like I'm chipping away at a glacier with a Q-Tip.

Since finishing the draft of my article, I wonder what else I can work on, just to keep my fingers and mind occupied. Despite my lack of confidence, despite the many failures, I still feel the pull of fiction. Can I really have a foot on both sides? Part of me wants to make a complete break with fiction but the other part says that’s disingenuous. Feeling conflicted.

Tepelus said:

I should get back to working on my novel and editing according to my betas' critiques, but that last beta really knocked my enthusiasm back several notches. I need to get over it and get back to work.

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Betas - God bless them one and all - offer opinions and suggestions. They haven't been imbued with special powers.

First quick pass of my plot points for my next novel are done, and I'm about half way through the second pass and am expanding them. I'm at the point of questioning whether some of the ingredients of this story are too volatile/controversial and am second guessing myself.

This week? Deadline week at work so my writing thoughts are all about what non-story writing tasks and chores do I have to do and can accomplish while on lunch or break or brushing my teeth. That has turned out to be actually beginning my agents lists (for the various WIPs I have in the line-up) and making notes about scenes (complete and planned) that need revision or insertion or moving in order to make the story arcs work more effectively, build emotional connection and realism in the characters, etc., in my front-burner project and notes for worlds that need stories and stories that need worlds and ghosts of stories past that are ready to be reincarnated into a new and evolutionarily superior planned-project.
I think about writing almost as much as I write.

I'm writing prose again! Having not finished a novel since 2016, and focussing mainly on playwriting in the last few years, I have (very tentatively) started tapping away at an MG novel... which is exciting! It would be nice to prove to myself I can still do the thing I've always wanted to do regarding writing!

Congratulations. I hope it goes well.

J.S.Fairey said:

I'm writing prose again! Having not finished a novel since 2016, and focussing mainly on playwriting in the last few years, I have (very tentatively) started tapping away at an MG novel... which is exciting! It would be nice to prove to myself I can still do the thing I've always wanted to do regarding writing!

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May you keep on tapping!

Writing is very satisfying for me personally, so trying to balance my own enjoyment of writing with the reader's enjoyment of reading what I write is my challenge.

I started a new WIP this week and I'm only 2500+ words in and already feeling this won't work. I don't know if it's my inner critic or if this actually sucks. Blegh.

I'm working on book 2 of the duology and it has some complex stuff that for me will be very difficult to write. In particular I'll be writing about protests that begin turning to violence. My character does not want violence but gets sucked into it anyway. I have the whole story in my head and much of it outlined, even though I pants from there. But it's going to require more skills than I currently have.

Finished up a more detailed outline (a plotter here), went from about 6 bullet points per chapter to an average of 30.

Currently working on the excel sheet I'll use when I go through the plot again to be sure my characters know and do things at the right time and in order.

Probably at least 2 more passes through the outline before I start writing in earnest (hopefully in the 3rd week of October). I have to drive down to Palm Desert to see my cousin (which is good) but will have to do with her nut job husband (less than good), which may delay everything.

I just found a four year-old piece of short fiction that I had forgotten about and had left buried in the writing folder of my laptop. There's 800 words of good (for a first draft, anyways) writing, but I have absolutely no idea where I was going with this and I left myself no plotting notes.

To the (re?)drawing board...

Finally got unstuck on my WIP. Set out to write again. Typed away. Fell asleep. Drove out to the mountains to meet my parents for a hike. On the way, came up with an idea to make the conflict more concrete and the stakes higher. Yay!—or not? I love writing about internal conflict and don't want to overdramatize things. I'd rather craft my prose and storytelling so an internal conflict is compelling. But . . . on the other hand, if nothing is concrete, the story is a yawn. So maybe I should include this idea. But then, the ambiguous perfect ending I had planned suddenly gets messier. Do I keep it? Do I toss it? Do I put it out in the Brainstorming Sandbox for other folks to handle? Do I sell my laptop and start living in a cave in the mountains like the guy in my least-favorite book by my favorite author? Also, over half of my students at my day job are unable to read at grade level, so maybe it's selfish to write . . . nope, writing is self-care.

This has been stream-of-consciousness with Kat. Tune in Saturdays at the witching hour to hear Kat say, "Screw it all, I'm going to have a cup of tea and play sad hoedowns."