I've written this blog post this morning about six different times. I kept going off on tangents I didn't really want to go on, and couldn't figure out how to get it back on track. See, I had an initial paragraph that I was going off of, a "slice of life" experience I thought would be a great opener. But after so many failed attempts, I realized that the opening paragraph is what was leading me astray. As much as I had struggled and polished that first paragraph already, I had to let it go and erase it completely and start over.
This is one of my biggest fears when it comes to writing. I'm so afraid of getting to a point where I've written myself into a corner that I don't even get to the corner in the first place. I get a few chapters in and then see the "possibility" of a corner, so I get discouraged and go on to a new project. Because I don't know about you, but when the work is so hard to begin with (and writing a first draft seems to be like pulling teeth without anesthetic for me), I can't stand the idea of having to discard a huge chunk of writing because I'd gotten off track. Sigh. Definitely something I am going to have to overcome if I ever expect to get published.
What are your bugaboos? What keeps you from finishing your WIP?
For me it's usually a lack of planning. I have to be willing to take the time to figure things out before I go charging off into the story willy-nilly. I have had to throw out and start over many times before.
ReplyDeleteThis I can definitely relate to! You're right on about the fear stopping us. Usually, I rely on my writing friends to talk me back from my ledge and get me at least trying again. Corners exist. Sometimes we'll write ourselves into them. But it's never the end of the world. It just feels like that. LOL.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the honest insight.
I too often lose my motivation. I don't know where it goes. BUt suddenly the characters become distant, or the plot unclear and nothing ever changes.
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