Hello 2025! January IWSG
 |
| Yes, Violet. Grammie's book is a load of hooey right now. |
This month's insecurity is...
Will I ever finish this next book?
This current WIP is kicking my butt. I was feeling a bit of hope prior to the holidays. I was zipping through the first half of the story, daring to say I'd probably be ready to consider publication around March, and then BAM! I opened chapter 29 and there was the wall.
None of it made sense. It didn't even match the beginning of the book.
I moved onto the next chapter and the next...none of them made sense what-so-ever. It's as if every single chapter past #28 was just a hodge podge of whatever bull malarky my brain wanted to spew that day.
(No, I hadn't been drinking. I kinda wish I had been because at least that would've been a good excuse!)
I always tell people to forge on and write crap when they're blocked, but wow. At least make sure the crap makes some sense.
I'm not sure any of it is even usable. It would probably take more time to pick and choose the good stuff rather than trashing it all and starting the end over.
Kill a darling? Hell, this is going to be more like a mass homicide.
January 8 question - Describe someone you admired when you were a child. Did your opinion of that person change when you grew up?
There were a lot of people I respected growing up and I still respect them to this day. Just to make it interesting, I tried to think of someone I admired that I later realized was a train wreck of a human, but I can't really think of a single person. I was always a quiet kid, so I think people often forgot I was there and I'd hear a lot of truths that people still probably don't realize I'm aware of. Also, when I was young, my grandma Mary told me judge a person by how they treated those who could do nothing for them. That was the true judge of their character. That was some sage advice that I always remembered and seems to have served me well.
.jpg) |
| Join the IWSG! Thanks to this month's awesome co-hosts! Rebecca Douglass, Beth Camp, Liza @ Middle Passages, and Natalie @ Literary Rambles! |
.jpg)
Good advice from your Grandma Mary! Violet is so sweet.
ReplyDeleteShe is a sweetie!
DeleteGreat advice from Grandma.
ReplyDeleteSorry your work is a mess. Time to bring out the chainsaw.
And I got a chainsaw for Christmas, so how perfect is that?
DeleteYour granddaughter looks like one tough critic! Good luck, Granny. I have faith that you'll get through this WIP. You've done it before. Here's to a great year of writing.
ReplyDeletehttps://cleemckenziebooks.substack.com/p/short-story-wednesdayagain
Children are brutally honest, right? LOL
DeleteThank you for the support! Here's to a great writing year!
Good advice from your Grandma! And I'm sorry the story is struggling. I am afraid to even look at what I drafted this fall--I, too, may need to commit mass murder to pull the story from the mess.
ReplyDeleteI suppose there are worse things that could happen, like our laptops catching on fire or something...
DeleteI've had the just write crap stuff and then found it to be a mire of muck that made now sense, so I can totally empathies. And the funny thing is that I'm sure it made sense when I first wrote it. 😝
ReplyDeleteI must have had some plan. I just can't see it yet. LOL
Delete"...judge a person by how they treated those who could do nothing for them." That's very good advice.
ReplyDeleteHang in there. You'll figure out the WIP. Try asking 'what if...?' and carry out some plot variations in your mind before sitting back down to the keyboard. Or run it by your trusted CPs.
Trusted CPs are going to be hearing from me, so be prepared.
DeleteI may have asked what if one too many times. I must have been asking a new what if in each chapter.
Your grandmother was very wise.
ReplyDeleteHold on to what you've done and go back a couple chapters, read up until #29, and then see if a new direction doesn't strike you.
I will move the chapters into a planning file...just in case there is something salvageable. Thanks for the reminder.
DeleteUgh on the story! Do you know what the ending is? If so, maybe try writing that then write backwards just to get a groove going again? Or write some of those scenes you know for sure you want in there? Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI do know the ending. And I seem to have a thousand different ideas on getting there.
DeleteJust kidding. You're right. The sensible thing is to work backward from the end.
WIPs kicking butt... I can relate! And stuff just not making sense? That's what I'm currently trying to fix after the mess I made over 10 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI think I had twenty different plot routes to the end waging battle in my head.
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year!
You may laugh, but I have experienced the same thing in book two of my series. I cried at first, but I looked at it again after my tears. The beginning is beautiful, and moving to the middle, I found some paragraphs I can use so I am not starting over. I am going to stick with it, take it one day at a time, and put it all together.
I hope you find a solution for all that happened after #28.
All the best.
Shalom shalom
I think slowly weeding through it like that is the best way to go. And one day at a time is always great advice.
DeleteI know I commented on this post. I wonder if I went to spam.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Blogger can be picky. I've had trouble myself.
DeleteI've had that happen to a few stories. Good luck sorting that mess out.
ReplyDeleteI think it's an occupational hazard, lol.
DeleteI feel your pain. I also know you can fix this. You may just need to set it aside for a bit and get fresh perspective. If there's anything I can do, sing out.
ReplyDeleteSandra sandracox.blogspot.com
Thank you for the vote of confidence! I have been picking it apart and reworking it to make it fit. Thanks to all of my writer friends' tips and encouragement, I think I have it back on track.
DeleteAnd thanks for offering to help me out!! Hugs!
Woot. Woot. Glad you are back on track. Anxious to hear more about it.
DeleteSandra sandracox.blospot.com
My friend, NO. Just no. No reason for homicide or a quiet killing. Don't hire a hit man either. There are gems in your writing. Go.write.through.it. You'll pull it together, add and subtract, pull some hairs out, and all that yada yada that you do and do well. It's you. You will produce a sound and wonderful baby. If it takes longer than you'd like, that's okay. We'll go for mai tais or hot cocoa in the meantime.
ReplyDeleteHugs.
Love your spirit, Robyn!!! I have been doing as you suggested and it is ever so slowly coming together.
DeleteMy latest drink love is chocolatey coffee. It's the best of two worlds.
Grandma Mary gave wise advice.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you need regarding your current WIP. I fly through some parts, haul my way through others, practically give up on other parts entirely and switch over to some short stories I'm writing. In fact, when people ask about my work, I mention short stories and I've given up talking about the novel. We'll get there in the end - there will be something in your words that will make sense, even if it means moving chapters around or butting two together. Good luck x
I honestly don't know what I was doing. Perhaps going on memory at the start of each chapter and my memory wasn't working?
DeleteSaggio consiglio quello di sua nonna, resta sempre nel suo cuore questa metafora che apre altri orizzonti
ReplyDeleteA meno che, preferisce continuare ad espandere contenuti dove prevale il suo buongusto sui temi sociali
No c'è da meravigliarsi, se sa' come uscire a costruire i suoi pensieri e le sue idee
Auguri per il suo blog
Saluti dall'Italia 🤗
Grazie mille!
DeleteThat's pretty much the extent of my Italian!