For the past nine months or so, I’ve been working on a book that almost refuses to flow. I love the story, get excited about the ideas floating around in my head, but every time I sit down to work on it, it’s like pulling teeth. I don’t know what it is that makes it difficult. I have much of the story line mapped out, I know the arc of the characters, I know how it all ends, but I feel like I have to almost literally drag the details out of my keyboard. Nine months and five chapters. Not a good pace.
Not that I care about my own pace. I have no deadlines, so if a book takes three months or twenty, it doesn’t matter so long as I get it done and I’m satisfied with it. However, I would really like it to be a bit easier than it has been.
But then, one day, the kernel of a new idea popped into my brain.
Backstory: Some years ago, due to the chances of circumstance and inadvertent proximity, I inherited the caretaking of an older relative who suffered from Alzheimer’s. I was happy to do it, as difficult as it was, and did my best to keep her comfortable until she passed. When she died, I was executrix of her will and sorted through her private papers and belongings.
And I found secrets, long buried.
In the years since then, I’d never thought about writing her story, but suddenly the idea of a gaping chasm between the life desired and the life lived began to fascinate me. You know how it is: I began to ask myself, “If I were going to write this, how would I do it? What direction would I take it?”
Over the course of a few days, more and more details presented themselves to me. I began to ponder names, relationships, the sequence of revelations. I was not going to tell a true story, but took the gist of this relative’s life and used it as a springboard to something else. And suddenly the call of this story was stronger than the one I had been writing.
What to do? Discipline myself, buckle down and finish the one I’d started? Or go off on a joyride to who knows where? As writers, I think we frequently face this sort of dilemma. We have a finite amount of time and energy, and although we may have a boatload of characters yammering away in our heads, we obviously can’t write all of them at the same time. How to choose?
I will nearly always go with inspiration. Which story fires my brain? Which characters haunt my thoughts, even my dreams? When I find my mind straying to the new story at every lull in the conversation, every quiet moment, I can’t ignore that. I’ve got to go with the flow while it’s rushing by.
I feel guilty abandoning my other story, but there’s no help for it. You’re not giving me all you’ve got? You’re not pushing your way out as hard as I’m trying to pull you out? Benched. Sidelined. Sorry. Sent down to the next slot in my priority list.
After all, who knows how long the light bulb would stay lit if I ignored it? What if I jotted a few notes, put them aside for later, then came back to them when I “had time” and I’d lost all the feeling I had for the story? In the course of several major house cleanings, I have actually come across notes, even full chapters, of books that I have no memory of. Zip. Nada. Zilch. The characters mean nothing to me. The story arc is gone. These abandoned children will lie buried in a drawer for eternity, their story never told.
No, I have to follow the light bulb. I have to plunge into the roaring stream. I have to go wherever these and every other cliché will take me. Nothing lasts forever. Gotta grab it while I can.
What about you? How do you choose? What path do you take when multiple stories call you?
It’s often a tough choice and one, I think, that needs to be taken seriously. Either direction will have consequences. I let a story go, early on, because the one I am currently writing grabbed me more. That has not been without difficulties and I have struggled to get through that tough middle. The “other” story has completely left me, in spite of that first chapter and the outline I have sitting in my computer. It’s dead, never yo be resurrected. Was it the right choice? Only time will answer that.
Generally I go with my gut and follow the muse. But what works for me may not work for another style of writer.
Yvonne, I think you’re right–tough choice, and consequences to both actions. Only thing is, I can’t imagine trying to slog thru Story A while Story B is singing a siren song. That would feel like total hell and frustration to me. I have, in the past, broken off one book right in the middle to write another, and I got back to the first one without a problem, but that’s no guarantee it’ll happen every time. As I said, I’ve got some abandoned children in a drawer that will never have their stories told.
When I have these inspirations — just about every day in the shower, frankly — I write the stuff down, and then see if the idea persists. Because otherwise I strongly suspect it’s just another form of procrastination (I have so many!). However, I also think it can be quite salutary to break from a project that’s giving you a hard time and do something completely different. When I was drafting my first two novels, I used to go off and write X-Files or Star Trek fanfic. It kept the works oiled and gave me some nice feedback to tide me over from the long isolation involved in writing novels, at least at the pace that I write them. Writing the occasional short work especially is good for the spirit — look, you can say, I COMPLETED something. That feels nice. So good luck! If it’s coming much more easily, that’s probably a good sign.
Sandra, you make two good points. If an idea persists… that’s what usually will drive me to make a decision, when I can’t get the bloody thing out of my mind. It’s start writing or go crazy. And breaking off to do shorter works is good, too. I do that with my IU posts or the zillion other projects I have looming. It is nice to cross something off the list when you’re working on the long haul. Thanks for adding that.
I’m with you, Melissa. If I worked that hard on a book and nothing came, it would have been shelved long ago. It could inspire you later.
Joni, I think the only reason I kept on the first book for so long was because I didn’t have anything else at the time to fire my imagination. But now that I do… that’s the way I have to go. I have to go with the high-energy, high-intensity idea. Funny thing, though, just recently I had another half-formed thought coming together in my brain, and I just banished it. I’ve got too many ideas already to culture another one. Luckily this new one agreed to disappear without a whimper.
I am always working on multiple projects, setting one aside to follow inspiration. When I focus on whichever story most demands to be written, I find I can return to the problematic ‘abandoned’ projects later on, with a fresh perspective.
That’s what I have found most of the time, too. The last time I did that, I went back to the first story after finishing the second, and since it was already half-done, I breezed through to the end. For whatever reason, I got past the middle slump and just cranked on the rest of it.
I abandoned a book people were waiting for because a new idea wouldn’t go away. I felt bad about it at the time, but now the cuckoo in my head has hatched and gone to editors and betas I am able to return to the original project. We can’t be creative without a bit of random, um, creativity, from time to time eh? It remains to be seen which book throws most sparks to the skies but I am guessing it might be the interloper… 😉
Wouldn’t surprise me a bit, Carolyn. Since those interlopers seem to come in with fireworks of inspiration, it makes sense that they would throw the most sparks. And I think our readers can tell when we’re excited about what we write. But having that added pressure of readers waiting for the next installment of a series would certainly put that decision into a different light. Thanks for commenting.
Great post, Melissa. There have been times when I’ve worked on two stories more or less at once, alternating from one to the other to refresh my brain. But mostly? Like you, I have to feel the story as much as ‘see’ it in my head. Good luck with the new one. 🙂
Thanks, A.C. It’s coming along. I have a good feeling about it, primarily because of the subject matter. Time will tell.
I usually have several books at different stages of completion on my desk at any one time, and I move to the next one while I’m waiting for the last one to be edited, designed, whatever. The only discipline I find useful is that I try not to drop a project in the middle to move on to the next. I finish the rough draft, finish the edit, whatever, before I move to the next project.
As far as dropping a book like you did, I can see it happening to me. What grabbed my sympathy was the ” I have much of the story line mapped out, I know the arc of the characters, I know how it all ends.” A real creativity killer for me. I often skip scenes that don’t come easily and keep writing. Then I find those scenes really difficult to go back to. They’re probably the weakest scenes in the finished book.
But if I’d slugged away and written them when I “should have,” would I have lost the overall flow of the project? Dunno.
That’s what makes life fun, isn’t it?
Thanks, Gordon. I have found myself slogging through the middle of a book (probably just because I had nothing else that set my hair on fire), and it’s tough sledding. Some days I had to force myself to get one sentence down, one paragraph. It felt like I was making no progress at all, but I knew that if I kept chipping away at it, it would all come together. Going back and reading it later, it all seems to flow pretty well, thank god. But I would certainly prefer to have the ideas coming fast and furious. Yes, the nebulousness of this thing we do definitely keeps it interesting.
This has happened to me more times than I can – or care – to count. I get an idea for a story and start working on it. Then, another idea develops in my mind like a tumor, and I defer to it. It’s just the way my psyche functions. I usually don’t have tunnel vision about anything. Too many intellectual tidbits tug at my curiosity. I believe very few writers – Norman Mailer and Gabriel Garcia Marquez come to mind – can honestly say they’re able to sit down and complete an entire novel within x-amount of time and without doing anything else. Aside from the non-literary distractions of my busy life, it usually takes a while for me to get an entire writing project completed all at once. (Not including short stories.) Therefore, Melissa, you are not alone.
Alejandro, I think the majority of my books were done one at a time, from start to finish, altho they may have taken anywhere from 3 months to 2 years to complete. Like you say, non-literary distractions abound. However, one I wrote in 39 days, but that was being led by the nose by the muse the entire way. That was one that harangued me every evening until I could start writing again the next day. I wish they were all like that!
There is a saying in eastern philosophy which maintains that until you are ready for an experience, its essence will always escape you. It’s the same with writing and gardening. Until a story is ready to be told it will not flow from your pen, neither will a plant grow until its season.
You’ll probably guess by now that I’m coming down firmly on the Go With The Flow team. If you’re struggling with a story and every phrase needs to be dragged fighting, screaming, and gasping from your pen, it obviously isn’t ready t be written. There can be no justifiable reason for slogging on with it, except possibly a tight deadline to which you have made a firm commitment. And even then a brief diversion could provide just the oxygen it needs to start breathing again.
So lay it gently aside and do what inspires and drives you. Let the passion flow and your story soar. Later you can go back and take another look at the troublesome tale. Or you can leave it to ferment slowly in a corner.
Looking at my Drafts folder, I see among the WIP that there are five memoirs, two novels, two short stories, a set of children’s stories and one handbook waiting my attention. In each case I know what needs t be written and what the structure will be. Some of them even have 25 k or more written, but they’ve been laid aside for one reason or another. Last week I finished the project I have mainly been working on for the last six months, and handed over the manuscript. Since then I have picked up one of the WIP memoirs I started 67years ago (yes, you read that right!). This time the words are flowing, and last weekend I managed to write 8,300 good words after a three year gap. It’s still flowing too.
So don’t struggle, write what moves you.
Ian, you old softie, you. I had never thought about it like this, but this is a perfect way of looking at it. And I really like: Let the passion flow and your story soar. That’s it. If we’re just grinding it out, it shows. If we love what we’re doing, it shows. Thanks for deepening the discussion.
Excellent post, Melissa. I tend to write what excites me. If a particular scene in a book isn’t exciting me, then I’ll move on to a scene in the book that does excite me. I don’t like to write stuff I’m not excited about.
So, in most instances, I manage to finish a project by skipping around a bit, and fixing the scenes so they flow like it was written as one continuous story from start to finish. However, in a few instances, skipping around the story doesn’t help. There’s nothing I’m able to write. To me, that’s a sign the book isn’t doable in it’s current form. There’s something rotten that just won’t work in the story. Until I can pinpoint what that is, I have to stop working on it. I can’t write a story I know in my heart doesn’t work. I think that’s why people abandon things: they know it can’t continue like they’ve perceived it, but they can’t figure out how to reconceptualize it in a way that works.
The other problem is that once something gets backburnered, it may not call to you again, not the way, other more immediate ideas do. But, I think when a story calls, a writer should answer. 🙂
RJ, interesting way to get around the unexciting parts. I have very rarely written out of sequence, and then only a bit of dialog or a sentence or two that struck me like a thunderbolt. I have been tempted, though, and maybe I’ll be more willing to try this in the future. It’s interesting how we all have our little tricks to get through the slow times. Thanks for adding this.
Me, a softie? Cripes! I’ve been called lots of things in my time, but never that!
You learn something every day! 🙂
What a relief! I thought it was just me being distracted. Wrote and published one novel. It wasn’t a trilogy. It did okay, so started another. Nothing!
Put it aside and wrote another book and then lo and behold the middle book came so easily once I knew the outcome of the third book. Think I had been needing info for the middle one, that’s why it was so difficult.
Kate, interesting process! I think Ian (above) is right; when the book is ready, it will be written; if it’s not, it won’t. Just reminds me again how little control we actually have over our books and characters. Sneaky little varmints.
Varmints? Does anyone actually use that word? I thought it was only used in B grade cowboy movies from the days when Ronald Reagan was acting in them!
Been there, done that. In my apprenticeship I’d only have one idea at a time and I’d work at it until it was finished. Then as I became more practiced as a writer, the ideas started coming hard and fast. I’d get enthusiastic about one, start it, then when I hit the 30K wall and my initial momentum lagged, I’d abandon that book for a new, shiny idea.
Soon, I had eight beginnings and not a single finished novel in the bunch. Nobody gets a half-book published. If I wanted to be published, I’d have to finish a project. So I picked one and I persisted, even when it got hard.
Now, as an experienced journeyman, I know how to complete multiple projects. I also have the experience to tell the difference between simple hard slog and an idea that’s not fully developed.
When I’m asked this question, I reply, “Have you ever finished a book?”
If the person asking has never finished a book in their life, my advice is to persist with their current project. Get it done.
It takes a special sort of skill set to complete a novel, including persistence. It’s a marathon. It will get hard in the middle. You have no idea if you have the chops to complete a book until you have. I advise, if someone’s never completed a book, how do they know they will complete this new project?
If a person has completed a novel in the past, yay. Whether or not to abandon the current project would need deeper thought and analysis.