What's On Your Mind About Your Writing?

[AJWells]

I'm thinking ahead of my current book, I'm thinking about the sequel. I know I shouldn't, but I feel like I need to know what their paths are before I carry on writing. Mind boggling.

[Shika Senbei]

"Are we having fun yet?"

[aixsponsa]

"Am I writing the literary equivalent of no-man's land?" / "It's my story and I'll do what I want"

Not long ago I got the urge to write a fantasy story that would be my answer to the seeming abundance of Medieval European-based stories. I realized that the cultures and mythologies of native societies of North and South America are practically infinite sources of ideas.

I created a world and filled it with people, a pantheon, magic, and magical creatures based on creatures from native mythologies, along with some creatures I just made up. I love my story and I believe in it.

I've searched for similar Native-inspired fantasies and haven't found much. Note that I say Native-inspired. I make the distinction from Native-based in that I am not using any names or words from real life native culture, I am making up as much as I can and only flavoring the story so that it has the feel of a story about native people. It's not even Earth. The most common weapons are bows, spears, and hatchets (not tomahawks, which would be a real world reference).

Anyway, my point is, there is a trope about "magical Native Americans". I'm not trying to go there, but yes, my fantasy people live in tribes, use Stone Age technology, and there is magic in the world (though only a small percentage of the people can use it, most everyone else is just "normal"). I guess part of me is like, should I be writing this? And the other part says, yes, it's your story and you love it. I'm trying to be confident in the story and not worry that I might, Heaven forbid, offend someone.

Sorry for the long post, it's just been on my mind lately.

[romancewriter]

Originally Posted by StephanieZie

I'm having major writers block and I don't know what to do about it I'm considering shelving my WIP for a few months to see if that helps. I've written about 35k words, out of order, and now I feel like I have a hundred puzzle pieces that don't quite fit together, and trying to make them fit is like pulling teeth. I think I'm plot challenged. I love character development and writing dramatic scenes, but when it comes time to figure out the overall story arch, I feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of different angles I could take. I can't sort out a beginning and an end that I like and that make sense given what I've already written. I may have to rethink the whole thing from scratch. Murder your darlings, they say.

I totally feel your pain. This is very bane of my current existence. I have restarted so many different stories, told in so many different ways, and circle round and round between ideas and not one seems to work well. At any rate I'm thinking I'm going to have start plotting which is something I never do because I have no patience and I just want to write, but starting over 8,000 times certainly isn't getting me anywhere. Yes, I have finished stories but those stories happen few and far between.

At any rate good luck.

[romancewriter]

Originally Posted by FCameron

I'm right there with you! I've not queried as much as many suggest, but I've gotten enough rejections (and no feedback) that I'm second-guessing myself on everything...

Is women's fiction too difficult to place?
YA is so popular, should I have made my characters a few years younger and called it YA?
Should I have made it a mystery and cut out all the relationship changes?
Should I have made it a romance...etc.

Sigh. On the positive side, I have a full manuscript out with one agent right now and what I want for Christmas...if I can't get representation...I'd like a critique!

My last rejection did have feedback, all negative. My characters were too reasonable, conflict was nonexistent, story could be wrapped up in 1000 words, hero more interesting than heroine. Having a bit of a hard time getting past that one.

[kkbe]

Wondering why I write certain things.

[JustinlDew]

A. Wondering what I was thinking when I wrote this. You'd be amazed what a semester of college will do for sentence structure.
B. All I want for Christmas is the money to hire an editor.

[WriteMinded]

Too many words. Too damn many words. Can't stop myself. I should write soap operas instead of novels. Yes.

[KawaiiTimes]

The chapter I just wrote would make a much better ending than middle-chapter.

[Tepelus]

Realized today doing research that I got the date of the king's wedding mixed up in an earlier chapter and now some of it won't work. Oops! Will have to leave a note in that chapter so when I go back to it (it was one I hadn't finished anyway and needed to return to it) I'll remember my goof.

[hadou]

Doubt is in my mind, on whether my work is good enough. I have made many revisions, and I still feel a little bit insecure.

[rwm4768]

I'm worried about word count at the moment. I thought I was okay at 120,000, but now I'm trying to get it down as much as possible.

[Anna Spargo-Ryan]

I've outlined myself into oblivion and lost momentum :/

[triceretops]

I'm apprehensive about the length of both of my YAs, being around 68,000. I know I'm all right, in the ball park, but if sold, I just can't imagine them going to print at that length. I'm used to writing 85,000 to 110,000 all day long. These are my first short novels and it really bugs/scares me.

tri

[hannahward07]

I want to write but I'm struggling to fit in time after the week I've had. I'm trying to plan it out in my head but me and plans don't usually work, no matter how hard I try.

[adarkfox]

I'm in the saggy middle of my WIP. I can't make any headway on it, or on the MS I'm supposed to be tweaking.
Meh.

[ArachnePhobia]

Finally starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel that was The Gallery of Terror. Oddly, that light involves halving the ages of the cast and turning it into an MG. ETC: I realized my original version of this post made it sound like I thought that was a bad thing, and I don't; I'm just surprised that this is the second time in a row I've done this, and wondering if maybe this is my natural "comfort zone."

[triceretops]

Can't believe I just dove into it and knocked out 1,600 words in two hours. That's my official start on the sequel to Planet Janitor. I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M DOING THIS SHIT. There goes all the marketing I'm likely to do in the future for the other books. But I keep hearing don't stress that--write another book. Dear God it's been two years! Do I still have it? Oh, my publisher is going to do flip-flops of joy since he's been needling me for, well for forever to knock this one out.

But if my agent sells one of the other four books I'll have to stop this train and salute a new editor. But, I'll go like hell for right now.

tri--red-shifting to bed 'cause I'm tired now.

[WKlein]

BAM! Finished rewrite 2 (or 3... or whatever I'm on). Though, of course, before I could even back up my files, I had already thought of another change I could make to make it even more awesome. *sigh* I sometimes wonder if I'm ever actually going to be totally satisfied with it.

[flapperphilosopher]

I'm wondering why on earth I approached my story the way I did in the first six drafts, and why it took me so long to realize that wasn't the best fit. I'm a bit annoyed with myself for feeling the need to start again-- different POV, different main character, different tense--but more annoyed I didn't realize I had to sooner. I feel a bit sad about all the parts I finally got good, because it's all getting cut or completely rewritten, and some of it was good... just not right. BUT, I'm also feeling excited about the new angle and fired up--it's going to be so much better!!

[Bebop]

Been asking myself, 'What story really matters to you?'

[jinap]

I'm wondering if I'm cut out for writing. Maybe it's time to seriously consider doing something else with my life.

[ladyleeona]

I'm wondering if I'm ever going to be able to really, really finish anything. Lots of people query too early--I wonder if I'll ever be comfortable enough with my work to send out my first one.

[triceretops]

Well, sitting at 3,400 words right now on the new WIP, but I have to wait for my publisher to chime in and give me a very important suggestion on a plot point at this juncture. Crap! If I blunder into it, I could ruin it and waste my time. But I don't like sitting on my hands, but the holidays are a time of rest and reprieve. I shall focus on something else.

...or make a separate file and go with my instincts.

tri

[WordCount]

I'm wondering why it sucks.

Keep pushing....