So I've been laboring over what I thought was the final chapter of Leftovers. (Operative word: thought--turns out, it's NOT the final chapter.) Now, as y'all might remember, during NaNovember, I was cranking out 5 - 10 pages a day on another story. Then came December...and...yep, the output ratcheted down to anywhere from a paragraph to ONE page a day.
What is it about NaNo that unleashes the, je ne sais quoi, unbridled creativity...?...writer's fear....?
Anyway, so I'm writing this crappy scene, pretty sure the whole book must be crappy, and it's stalling me out. Totally. (Fer sure, and gag me with a spoon.) In the midst of all this crap, I had to trudge back into the middle of the story to find a character's name or some other factoid, and I started reading. And kept reading. I couldn't stop reading.
Hey, good sign, right?
So, small lesson. Just because the scene you're writing doesn't feel like it's working; don't let yourself fall under the misconception that the entire story sucks.
And that concludes today's public service announcement for writers. You may all return to your regularly scheduled programming.
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3 comments:
When I get down about the current writing effort, I look up something written five, six, or ten years ago. It often reads much better than it originally did. It's why keeping everything is important, as it may just sound wonderful on another day.
What sucks is when you go back and read something from years ago and get the creepy feeling it's better than what you're currently writing.
amen
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