Right now, I'm
Writer's block happens. If I gave up every single time that I encountered writer's block, I wouldn't have the two relatively polished manuscripts that I do. But, for me at least, there's a distinct difference between writer's block and writer's fear. The fear is a deep, gut-feeling that makes me reluctant to write, alerting me to the fact that something is wrong with the manuscript, something that isn't as easy to fix as a flat scene or a chunk of awkward dialogue.
As of now, I've realized that THE SERENDIPITY LABS is riding on what started off as an interesting premise, a single interesting character, and some pretty descriptions. What's seriously contributing to my writer's fear is the way that I can't seem to get into the head of my main character and how a solid sense of the world continues to allude me. These two major problems were both present on the first round of writing the WIP, and they have not gone away. Rather, the deeper I get into the story (at 15k right now) the more I find myself getting pushed back by everything that isn't quite working.
I've tried brainstorming new conflicts that may allow my MC to shine and add new dimension to the world. The problem is that these fixes head-butt against my original vision of the story, which suggests that perhaps the idea isn't even as strong as I thought it to be.
Above all, I think the biggest red flag is that I do not enjoy writing this story. This is not to say that every time I sit down at my laptop and open Scrivener is full of rainbows and unicorns, but even the most difficult scenes call me to write them. With THE SERENDIPITY LABS, I've been downright scared of looking at the Scrivener page.
I love the idea, but an idea is not enough to carry an entire novel.*
*Who knows, I may receive an epiphany and return to TSL. But as of this moment, I'm exploring another idea and setting aside TSL.
Have you ever had a great novel idea that just doesn't seem to be working on paper? Do you back away from it then, or do you fight all the way to the end? If so, what are your strategies for overcoming writer's fear?
Oh no! Does this mean I won't know what happens for awhile?? Noooo!
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean though. Sometimes it just takes setting it aside for a week or two and thinking about something else to have the breakthrough you need to get excited again.
It's just a matter of time!
I've been meaning to comment on this post for ages--it's been bookmarked at the top of my browser basically since the day you posted it.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to say: If I'm not excited about a project, I don't work on it. Sometimes that means I'll be fifty pages into a novel and just up and shelf it, which sucks. But honestly, if I don't enjoy the work, I have better things to do with my time. Like write another novel that I want to work on more.
At least for me, I know it's the right project to be working on when I WANT to fight through the fear and doubt and blocks. When it's a struggle, but it's fun. Otherwise, it's just not worth it.
Good luck! I can't wait to hear what you're working on next. :)