Well, last week was an up-and-down kind of week for me. (I know that comes as no surprise to any of you.)
First off, I 4,454 words on HotG. (That includes losing 70 words as I attempted to switch the story from first person, present tense to third person, past tense.)
Then on Wednesday or Thursday (I'm not certain when the decision became final), I decided to shelve the book entirely. The story is not working and it was such a slog to get through my goals every day.
I'm not kidding you. I'd allot myself three hours in the mornings to get progress toward my daily goals. In that time I'd write a few hundred painful words. Sometimes I'd manage to get those word count goals, but it often meant I'd be writing late at night before bed as well to get there.
I realized that HotG was not me at all. HotG is a YA contemporary, aimed at the older end of the YA spectrum, that involved a lot of historical stuff and a lot of places I'm not familiar with. I struggled to connect to the story at all. If I'm not connecting how can I expect others to?
So I made a switch. I retreated back to my world of YA fantasy. Only this time I have opened up an old project. Some of you might remember the story I wrote, "Clockworks and Cogs" which I then attempted to turn into a novel. I've picked that back up, only this time intending the story to be a novella. I was already about 16K-17K into the story when I opened up the old manuscript.
I've renamed it. The story is now titled "Dragon's Steam." It's the first of a series of novellas set in this world I created for it. Sure there'll be a lot of revisions, but already the story is going so much better. I love this story.
Last week I managed to add 2,171 words to DS. Which, considering all the angst and torment I was going through in my struggles with HotG and taking the weekend off, is pretty good I think.
How are your WiPs going?
I've had a lot of trouble committing to manuscripts lately (I wrote about it yesterday). Finding the right story in the right voice for you is a struggle, and my thing is if I'm going to spend that much time in the world I'm creating, I better love it. So I totally feel you.
ReplyDeleteI am currently 4k into PIECES, my sequel to THE BREAKAWAY. It's going well, but it's weird. I'll just keep writing and see if it all works out, lol. I'm sorry to hear your other book didn't work out, but never count written words wasted work. You've learned something, whether you see it or not. Keep writing! :)
ReplyDeleteThis past month has been up and down for me. I can sympathize. Bless your heart. That's tough when a work isn't working well and not progressing. You never know... you may be able to pick it back up one day. :D I'm not writing anything current at this time. Still working on edits--the never-ending story. haha
ReplyDeleteI love that you are writing and pushing forward - such progress! I'm taking the month off from writing - supposed to start revision edits in August but just enjoying the break for now.
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