Wednesday, February 1, 2017

IWSG: The In-Between Time

Time once again for IWSG, or as I sometimes think of it, another round of me whining about an issue I'm sure many of us have.

With the first draft of the plot for the sequel to STARWIND complete, I've been trying to figure out what to work on next.  I have a bunch of different things I would like to do, but each one has its own little set of problems.  So I find myself switching between them, sometimes two or three in one night, hoping I'll find something in my notes (or anywhere, really) that sparks my imagination and helps me realize how the story's supposed to go so I can shape it into a proper plot.

And so far, it's not happening.  At all.

There's a story I plotted extensively before I started writing STARWIND, which even includes a rough draft of the plot and many pages of character notes.  I read through it a while ago and no longer care to work on it; whatever drove me to write it is gone now.  There's a set of ideas and visions that have been bouncing around in my head for a long time that I've been shaping, slowly, into something real, but it's like trying to herd flying cats with a hockey stick and my effort to write an interesting villain has led to one who could win in every possible situation.  There's a weird new incarnation for an old idea that came to me out of nowhere this past Friday, and it's already mimicking its predecessors, as I can't figure out a thing beyond the first act.  The chief plot device is also seriously problematic, making me wonder if the story is even worth pursuing anymore.  And I don't even want to count all the projects I've made progress on and then not looked at for weeks or months or even years, completely unsure of how to make them work.

To be blunt, I'm in Plotter Hell right now.  Not for the first time, and definitely not for the last.  And it sucks every single time.

I try not to worry about it too much.  I've learned (over and over) that it takes time for me to really put a story together, and that it's for the best if these things do take time.  But it's frustrating to sit down to get some work done and just flip from one potential project to the next, adding maybe a sentence or two, feeling like none of it amounts to anything.  This is the sort of thing that led me to take a weeks-long break last year, and even when I did that, I knew I had a working plot waiting on the other side.  I don't have that now.

I have a lot of faith in STARWIND, but that's nothing new; I've had a lot of faith in everything I've tried to get published and none of them have ever worked out.  So I know I can't just work on that would-be series and think it's all going to pan out.  If that book doesn't work, then I'll need something else to work on, and when nothing is working, well, you can guess how that all pans out.

Advice is welcome, as always.  >_<  I'll keep scribbling down what I can when I think of it, and hoping that somewhere along the way, I figure out at least one thing that I can turn into a real story.

15 comments:

  1. Since I'm not a plotter, I'm not sure how much I can help. Oh, I'll sit and discuss how to get out of corners I've written myself into, but I've found I can't plot worth a darn. I know where I'm going and then throw in a curve ball that completely takes me in a different direction.

    But the constant switching is something I do. I chase the shiny ideas and then come plodding back to where I left off eventually. I guess I don't have much to offer there either except for "Hey! I do that too!" :)

    Hope you get it figured out!

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    1. I kind of wish I could write like that - just get an idea and go. Trouble is, I've tried it enough to know it doesn't work for me. Bah. >_<

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  2. See, I'm a loose plotter, so I'm good to start with an image, an idea, and a character. I'll even write an opening scene without any idea where it's going...but then I have to figure it out. Still, those seed scenes are my fire.

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    1. I understand about seed scenes. I'm all about getting a few basic ideas and going from there. Trouble is figuring out where anything goes from there, as it feels like nothing I come up with lately has anything to it.

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  3. I think I've over plotted my latest idea to the point it's not going to work. And like you, I lost interest. Write to your strengths. If that's lots of planning, so be it.

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    1. That's what I'm trying to do, but it's not working like it's supposed to. >_<

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  4. I feel ya. I have lots of things I want to write and feel like I'll never have time to get around to them all. I guess that's a bit different, but I would just recommend taking in the work of other. Read a lot in your genre, watch movies. Inspiration will strike! Keep the faith. 💖

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    1. I do read a lot (on my fourth book so far this year) and I look for inspiration where I can find it. Nothing's struck again yet, but I'll keep trying.

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  5. I think you're overthinking it.

    Don't worry about where the story will go - that'll come. You said you have a first act: write that out again, or from another character's POV. There's something in this event that you're missing and it may take writing it again or differently to discover what it is. Don't give up! You wouldn't have had a clear vision of the story if there was no story.

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    1. But overthinking is what I do! :P Seriously, though, none of this is written - it's all in plot notes that are crashing and burning. And unfortunately, it's very common for me to have a vision of a story when there's no story. Grr. Arg.

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    2. There's totes a story. Maybe put the planner in you aside and a take a cue from us pansters. Just go for it. Write whatever vision you had. Even if you don't know what you're writing. What's the worse that could happen?

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    3. Worst that could happen is that it falls apart like everything else I do these days, causing me to lose even more faith in my ability to write.

      I really don't need that right now. >_<

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  6. I've gone through this. I get really antsy when I don't know what I'm going to write next. I mean really really antsy. Just like you, I bounce from project to project trying to find which one is going to go, and right when I'm at my wits end, a story (usually one I've said, "Nah. Not going to work.") boils over out of nowhere, and balance is restored in the world, lol. I know the waiting sucks, but you'll figure it out in time.

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    1. I would say it's good to know someone else goes through this, but I wouldn't wish it on anyone. >_< But thanks. I keep hoping something will start working soon, as a week later I'm still in the same place, if not worse.

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