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Anybody who follows the Novel Support Group knows that I've been working on a new one called SEVEN STARS. SEVEN STARS is fighting me tooth and nail--and to date, winning. So, stubborn as I am, it's time to admit that something's wrong or it wouldn't be this hard.
I was trying just to get through a rough draft and then let it age a bit before coming back to it. But even that doesn't seem to be working. The chapter I'm working on is titled "Murder". It should be a fun one to write. But it's not. There are a lot of twists and reversals coming up. And I just can't get there from here.
I'm afraid I picked the wrong MC or, rather, the early part of the story and my zeal to make something very, very clear pulled me into the wrong MC. Either that, or the story just sucks. And the only way I'm going to fix it is to put it away for a while and get some distance from it.
I have a couple of ideas for other novels on the back burner, but neither is boiling, yet. So, I guess it's revisions. I have three novels needing various revisions. THE SHAMAN'S CURSE needs some major cuts to the first half. THE IGNORED PROPHECY needs a rewrite of the beginning six or eight chapters. And DREAMER'S ROSE is waiting for it's first revision, including several new chapters up front.
You exhaust me! How do you keep all of that going? I have enough trouble coping with one WIP, and floating a couple of ideas at the same time.
I have found that sometimes setting one project aside in favor of another will generate a sudden burst of inspiration on how to fix the problems in the first project. (I hope that makes sense. There must be a better way to say it . . .)
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I can't say much except you gotta go with the flow. If something isn't working you're right, there's probably a good reason for it. Shelve it and see if it entices you back when you might be able to figure out the problems. Good luck.
Posts: 1993 | Registered: Jul 2009
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posted
Sometimes you work on something and it goes well...then it stops and you stop. Me? Well, my major project of a few years ago got up to one hundred thousand words, enough for a novel...but it never had an end, never had a proper plot, and I had no idea where it would go from the point I abandoned it.
Maybe one of these days I'll get back to it and try again...maybe.
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My advice is to write the chapter anyway. Start with the main character doing something completely impossible, like talk on a cell phone if your world has no electricity, or do something completely improbable for her character. Basically give yourself permission to edit, and relax. You write because it's a good time, right? It sounds like you are not having a good time, so just write the chapter as silly or as craptacular as you want to. You can always edit it out later.
Just relax, have a cup of hot chocolate, maybe go take a walk, and just start, by the time the characters stop disco dancing, you will be back in the flow, and remember what it is you loved about the story.
And if not, well, then write a fun way for the story to die. ~Sheena
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And the only way I'm going to fix it is to put it away for a while and get some distance from it. 
