Mar 8, 2010

Weekly Word Count

344
I had a rough week. My problem--trying to figure out what to work on. I wrote a little more on my novel I've temporarily titled JANIE (Shiny New Idea) and that's at 6,146. But after my sister read it and told me the idea of it sucked, I dropped it. She said it wasn't that bad it just wasn't nearly as good as my current WIP (I'm calling that one GLITCH). Word count: 60,093. I'm nearly done with that one but it's so flawed in the beginning I just can't bare to continue on. SO that why I'm at 344 this week. I'm do a rewrite of GLITCH--this will be it's 3rd full draft rewrite.

Can anyone relate? Will there ever be a light at the end of the tunnel?

9 comments:

Amanda said...

I can definitely relate, and I would suggest not doing another full rewrite of Glitch until you've written at least one other novel. I know that's not what a beginning novelist wants to hear, but really it's the best advice. Put it aside for a year or two, writing another mss or two, then rewrite it. Things will work out best that way.

Anonymous said...

There is a light, Sarah, you just need to get around a few bends first. Keep plugging away, doing the grunt work necessary to make a good idea great, and you'll see it before you know it. Then you'll wonder why you ever imagined it wasn't there. :o)

Jeff King said...

Ooh yea, I feel your pain... and no there is no light at the end of the tunnel--well maybe the train heading towards you.

All we can do is write our best, grow, learn, and rewrite.

The life of a writer is riddled with road blocks and filled with pitfalls. All you can do is pick yourself up and carry on.

zz said...

Hi Sarah,

First of all, congrats on getting so close to the end of Glitch! I'm in a similiar position with my WIP, almost done but with loads of flaws. I guess I had expected from the start that draft 1 would be the most horrific thing I'd ever laid eyes on, so I'm kinda excited (though a touch nervous) to tackle draft 2.

Maybe you need to give Glitch a couple of months rest and then do something like a plot treatment to get excited about the story again?

Good luck!

Anonymous said...

I completely understand the flawed beginning problem. I had written the beginning, loved it, proceeded to talk with two people about how I was presenting my WIP, and they both suggested I start elsewhere. So I did. And I hated it. So I went back to square one, the wretched beginning! By this point I wasn't even sure if I liked how I had worked the beginning, so I tried scratching it. Four months later, nothing. Maybe 1,000 words! So I'd written some 40,000 words over a few short months, only to be stumped by a rewrite of the start. This past week, I've been more inspired and feel confident how it will progress!

Take a step back, write it backwards on cue-cards and see if that will help you bring out the new beginning :)

Good luck!

Swimmer said...

I'm so sorry!! I hate when you think everything is going right then something just kills all the happiness. I totally know what you mean. Good Luck and Don't give up!

Anonymous said...

I had a bit of advice when I was freelancing and that was never to show my work in the early stages. It's been the best advice now that I've turned to novel writing. Family means well, but I'm the type that gets discouraged easily. So I keep my seedling protected until they are able to handle the stress...lol.

Unknown said...

Hang in there! These things happen and you'll eventually be able to make it great! I understand the feeling though, it's tough to crawl out of too!

Hannah said...

Argh! I hate rewriting! I can so relate. My NaNo idea was crap and I think I'm just going to scrap the whole thing and never look back but there are still parts I liked...small itty bitty parts but parts.

I say finish it, take a long break, work on something else and then come back to it. The editing might be easier then.