This isn't what I planned to write, when I was able to return to writing full-time. I had a plan, for goodness sake! I had notes - reams and reams of notes - character studies and character arcs. I knew where I was headed with it. This new thing? The cuckoo in my writer's nest? (Or is it a stork?) I have next to nothing. A one-page synopsis I wrote three years ago, to structure the story in my mind. No character studies. No plot, as such. No notes!! Just this threatening... itch. This idea that I could write this and it could be good, better than what I had planned.
Trouble with an itch? You scratch it, it might go away. Or flare up into something horrid.
Shouldn't I be wildly excited about writing something new? Isn't that a vital ingredient? Or, at least, hug-myself-in-secret excited?
I do feel just like a mother bird, who returns to her nest to hatch her egg and finds someone else's egg there instead. Should I settle and see what hatches? That's what happens in nature, yes?
Has anyone else ever experienced this sense of feeling threatened by what they're writing? Is it a danger sign? Should I step away, or hang around for what happens next?
Added: Usually at this time on a sunny morning, I am writing to the sound of seagulls outside. This morning, it's wood pigeons, and blackbirds.
8 comments:
Really empathise with this. I have several part-completed novels so I think it's a bad habit to get into, starting new ones. However, if you've got better instincts about when to stop and when to pursue a new project I'd say go ahead. But then I would.
Hello, Sheila! Good to hear from you. I know just what you mean about unfinished projects - it's actually not my style at all, this hopping about. That's maybe partly why it's making me so nervous.
Something similar happened to me recently - as I struggle with this novel revision, other ideas pop into my head, ideas for "better" novels. Is it a sign to abandon the revision and start something new or is it a sign I'm just being lazy? :)
I went back to the revision, BUT I made notes on my other ideas. I don't know that there's a right way or a wrong way, and every situation is different - go with your gut, Sarah. Trust your instincts.
Thanks, Madeline, and interesting to hear you experienced something similar - and made the appropriate notes. Nothing worse than losing those good ideas, is there? I'm learning to trust my instinct again, slowly but surely. Another writer friend suggested I give this new novel 15,000 words to see if it stands up. I like that idea, since it doesn't tie me to anything too major. (My friend confessed to hoping it would 'eat me alive' and I would love that - haven't have that raw feeling from a piece of writing in a while and would give much to have it back.)
Hmm, now I'm thinking about trying my other idea for 15,000 words or so. Interesting concept...
I say go for it, Madeline!
I did the same thing three or four years ago and am still working on it...
Dreamer, that sounds terrific - and are you still loving it?
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