Tuesday, January 5, 2010

That's the Story

For the last three or four years I've been working on a story that I hope will one day be a book, or maybe even several books.  It's been an interesting process.  I have the bones, but it's been rather difficult putting some flesh on them, so to speak.  I get inspired and work on it from time to time, but I keep getting stuck.  I get stuck on names sometimes.  I'm sure it would be wiser, or certainly more convenient to just give a character a temporary name and move on, come back to it later.  But, for me, that would be like having a child and naming it when it turns ten.  It just wouldn't be right.  So I try different names, and I think one is right and then  I decide it isn't quite right after all for whatever reason.  I also get stuck on point of view.  I have written the same thing three or four different ways, trying to find the right point of view.  I haven't quite found it yet.  I think it's partly because I just haven't found the right current.  I've written other stories, and I can feel when I've found it, that current that takes me exactly where I need to go, without a fight.  But I haven't found it yet for this story, which makes me think that either A) I will never finish this story, B) I will finish it, but not til I'm about seventy-three, or C) I need to start all over.  Maybe a combination of those is the actual truth.  I'm not sure who this will actually be interesting to, but I did warn you that writing every day might lead to some days being a little more...tedious...than others.  In any case, that's the story on my story.

3 comments:

  1. I know exactly what you mean. I've tried over and over with different ideas for a novel, and the ideas were fairly interesting. But it was difficult to find a flow.
    I, myself, prefer to write in the first person, though it doesn't give you much to do with what other people are thinking. I think it gives a story a more personal feel, like you're the confidant of the main character. Also, I just get into the habit of writing that way...
    I'll stop rambling now. But I just want to say, even if you're having issues finding your flow, if you've got good dialogue and a good plot, you're doing better than quite a few other people who've been published.

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  2. I totally identify! I've been "writing" a book for almost 2 years now, on and off. At first I thought I could finish it off in a weekend... then I had to redo the whole construction of it. Then I'd get stuck and reorganize it with different themes. Seriously!

    But I think it's a timing thing. You know how inspiration goes- all of a sudden in the shower, the answer hits you and it all comes tumbling out perfectly.

    So here's to our "shower" moments!

    :) Michelle

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