Almost positive

[katiefoolery]

I’ve been reading through Black Fiddle in a desperate attempt to inspire myself to get started on that demmed elusive second draft... and it’s not that bad. Whenever I’m distanced from the manuscript, I always manage to convince myself that it’s horrible, that I’ll never have a chance of salvaging anything I’ve written because of its pure and unmitigated crapitude.

But I’m wrong.

Yes, the first section is pretty much expendable, but the later bits are a great deal better. Both Jeannie and Cianan keep saying things that make me laugh out loud, or snigger at the very least. And even the rubbishy bits aren’t as depressing as they should be, because I can see how they can be improved. The most cheering part of the whole process is seeing that much of what I’ve written can actually stay!

For the most part, I’m just glad to see that I still love this story and the characters within it. Their stories are every bit as important to me now as they were back when I first wrote the draft. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the re-read is that I know things now that I didn’t know when I was first writing characters such as Sheilagh and Fergal. And now that I know what I didn’t know but needed to know, well, I know a lot more. And that’s good to know.

I’m almost feeling positive about actually making a start on the second draft.

Comments

[flippyfrog.livejournal.com]

Take a break from 'writing', in that, take a break from thinking that you should be writing instead of sitting there with a blank page and a pen that's getting chewed to the point of splitting its plastic covering. Read more. Go down to your local second hand bookstore and buy some books. The cheaper and the more terrible, the better. I thought a while ago that i could never be a writer, then i read this terrible young adult book dragonfly and felt so disgusted with the author and how she had been published. I felt it was just something i had to do, write a story and prove that young adults shouldn't be treated like idiots who have no idea about plot or structure, or even decent common sense.

Reading classic fairy stories help me too, and then practising with how to make them longer. I have one i always go back to, simply because it was the story as a child i was obsessed about and so know it back to front, so i try to extend it, and see if i could make it into a novel. I don't think i'll ever get anywhere with it, but it is good practise.

Lastly, writing nothing. Finding some time to sit and describe what's happening about you. Write about your study, your living room where ever you are. And then toss a character into the situation and see where it takes you.

Long bus trips and having random conversations with characters in my head help me heaps. Also sketching if you do that kind of thing. When i take a break, i start sketching, and see if i can get a story that way.

I hope that gives you some ideas. Don't give up. Every writer/author i have ever met talks about dark times when they feel shit and think the joke is on them. Just keep going, the stories will come, they just sometimes need to take a break as well.