Friday, May 20, 2011

May Madness Update 5/20

I think the reason I'm having trouble writing is because I'm forcing it. There's. . . something in the story that's not working. I don't know what it is yet and am trying to figure it out. This is maddening for me! I don't really want to change anything but I think I'll have to if I want the story to work.

This has to be one of the hardest parts of writing a book. Knowing that something is wrong, trying to figure out what it is, and then changing it. Especially when you are attached to what has to be changed, it feels like your killing something. Or maybe just wiping it out of existence to haunt your dreams. I don't know but I hope it won't end up like that. I feel like that hope is futile though.

So when you feel something is wrong with your book, and for the life of you don't know what, how do you figure it out?

2 comments:

Claudie A. said...

I pick up books on writing. I try to see if the wisdom of my more successful peers can help me.

If you think something's wrong with your story structure, you can check out Margo's current series of post on Story Structure. They are awesome. (She's at urban psychopomp, but I think you know that)

Otherwise, look at the elements you're uncertain of. If it's a character, find resources of characters. If it's setting, try to find worldbuilding tips. And so on.

Oh, and whatever you love and remove, just keep it in a separate document. That way you can always go back to it. ;)

TayLyee said...

Claudie, Thank you! I've been checking out Margo's story structure series, they've been helpful. Thank you for the advice!