| I finished my WIP yesterday. And I think most of it really sucks. Honestly. Not in a "I hate most of my work and think of myself as a hack" kind of way, but in a real, genuine, "there's plot holes all over this thing and I messed up some stuff here and there and it needs some serious work" kind of way. Which is frankly unusual for me. This is the first book I've written where the basic oomph wasn't there in first draft. But honestly, that's another post for another time. What's at issue here is... I don't know what to do next. I hate finishing projects. I mean, I love it, because there's a feeling of accomplishment and blah blah blah (although, again, not really feeling that this time because I know how much work the first half of the book needs.) But what do I do now? What do I do NOW?? Seriously, this reminds me of one of my favorite Barbara Michaels books, Here I Stay. The MC hires a maid for her hotel, a rather slow woman named Mrs. Horner. And when the MC tells Mrs. Horner to clean a room, that's just what Mrs. Horner does. And when it's done, she just stands there, waiting to be given the next instruction. And that's how I feel right now. I'm just waiting. Normally I would leap into first-round edits, by which I mean clearing up the obvious plot holes I know I've left. I take care of those before I let the book sit, so when I go back to read it it's all there and I can really focus on the small stuff. But this time I'm so daunted by the prospect that I just want to...well, I just want to not do that. But neither do I want to just sit back and relax. I'm not good at that anymore. I give myself a week, maybe two, before I start getting antsy and depressed and freaked out because I'm not working on anything new. (I'm like Andrew's Dad from The Breakfast Club: You've got to get out there! WIN! WIN! WIN!) So that's it. I will probably spend a considerable amount of time rereading the parts of the new book which I actually like--and there is a nice big chunk of which I'm proud and pleased--to boost myself up for the inevitable tearing down. But I am at loose ends. I am bereft. Amuse me? |
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oh Im sure its wonderful..
now to amuse you.. hmmm i havent had caffeine yet..lol.. you want to see sucky work, i have had people encouraging me to give my hand at writing... to say it sucks is an understatement.. i could send that to you, you would laugh so hard youd fall off your chair..haha
ah huh...hmmmm. ah Oh yeah.. yesteday at work I had a customer come in asking for two bands..that made me chuckle silently. Go West..and Wang Chung.. oddly we did have a WC cd. "everybody wang chung tonight" what the hell does that mean?? Give me the Ramones anytime.
Whenever I think of amuzing someone, a scene from the History of the World, Part I always comes to mind. Y'know the one, where Dom Deluse playing Caeser calls out ot his merry helper and says, "All right, faggot - what's next?"
Amuse you? I work at a helpdesk for retail stores. They have a laser printer and a dot matrix printer in each store. Okay?
I got a call from a assistant manager having problems with his dot matrix printer, who said, "My Dominatrix won't print."
I hear raucous laughter in the background. He seems suddenly confused.
I say, "I don't think they do that."
What I should've said, "Spank her, and see if she starts to print."
Well, that call amused me. I slipped it into one of stores, too. Of course.
Tom Gallier
Can you send it to a beta reader for a second opinion?
If it were me... I'd give it to a first reader so that I could get a little distance from the emotion but still feel like work was being accomplished. A new brain looking at it might be able to brainstorm some of the things that are so intimidating.
Actually, now that I think about it, I very rarely revise *without* involving someone else in that process. I guess I need to chat out loud about it!
Oh, Nascarandbeans, don't be so hard on yourself. I'm sure it's not that bad. And even if it is, pretty much everyone's first attempt at writing is bad. One day I'm going to dig up mine and post some of it so everyone can see how awful it was.
Oh, geez, psynde. Go West and Wang Chung? Lol.
Lol Pike! I haven't seen that movie in years.
Hee, Tom, that's a good one! I once had a friend accidentally ask the woman at the McD's drive-thru for the "twenty-pound meat" instead of the 20 piece McNuggets. (Okay it's not that funny. But at the time it was hilarious. I think we were high.)
Oh, I will, Jaye and Alana, but really, it needs work first. As I often do I pulled a villain out of my ass at the last minute so I need to go back and add that character in, if nothing else.
I know what you mean about that sudden hanging what-do-I-do-now feeling.
Moments like that always get the final song from the Buffy musical stuck in my head... "The battle's done and we kinda won, so we'll sound our vict'ry cheer- tell me, where do we go from here?"
Let this dirty limerick ease your worries...
There once was a vampire named Mable
whose periods were very unstable
Once every full moon,
She took out a spoon,
And drank herself under the table
ewww...Oh Mark.. now that one is bad... lol...
Lol, Janet, exactly! (And I love that song.)
Geez, Mark...that's BAD. That's really bad.
I just threw up in my mouth a little.
only a little? lol..i think i all out wretched..
thank god we got some new blood in here.. it's going to be so much easier to let mark go now...
hehehe!
Yet your mind is off that WIP!
I wont tell you where my mind is.. lol... at least its functioning now that i have had daily caffeine supply...lol
Ack! Thanks to Mark's limerick, I've given up writing vampire novels. Is there a market for Milk and Cookies novels?
Ah Tom. Another vampire author bites the dust. You and Anne Rice, both.
Don't worry, Tom.
I have every bit of confidence that Mark can ruin Milk & Cookies for everyone too!
Especially milk and cookies. That's too easy.
Mark - Just read the limerick. LMFAO!!! Can't wait to tell that one to grandma.
Grandmas love that one in particular.
At least, I find.
you can spoil the milk all you want but dont mess with my cookies..lol..
i dont think my grandma would even get it..lol
My grandma would toss her cookies. Oops, guess I can write about milk and cookies. Shame. I love milk. Milk, a REAL man's drink.