(no subject)

[xenith]

I'm supposed to be working on a rewrite of a first draft, but I'm particularly discouraged. All the work that is required to get it from the current state to something other people can read, and for what? Nothing.

*sigh*

"Just sit down and write" isn't working. I've been trying to do that since, when? Late February.

Writing up edits on a print-out so I "just have to type them in" isn't working. That just has me in tears.

Giving up all together seems a good plan at the moment, but I know where that leads.

I don't know what to do :(

Comments

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

This sounds to me, from a distance, and having not yet read your work (next in the queue) as if you haven't got the distance to step back, think about how it hangs together, and fix the macro-scale first. At least, whenever I feel that my edits aren't really making a difference, the reason is that I'm fiddling on the wrong scale - polishing sentences and paragraphs - when I need to zoom out mentally and address the problems on a much larger scale.

Have you tried writing a detailed synopsis of the book?

[monissaw.livejournal.com]

You might be right about the distance, but I think I'm stepping back too far :) I'm seeing a mess of undeveloped plot threads, uncertain world-building, inconsistent character motivation and so on. Lots of work for no reward.

I *know* I can do it. There nothing there I haven't done before.

A synopsis might help, or it might make things worse. Why doesn't this come with a handbook?

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

undeveloped plot threads, uncertain world-building, inconsistent character motivation

A lot of this sounds like critical writer being critical. How good is your inner critic at judging your ability to fix it? I mean, there *are* writer who get it right or almost-right first time, but most writers seem to do some kind of free forming of story: write something, realise that wasn't quite what they should have written, delete and rewrite and add new stuff; lather, rinse, repeat. The zen part is to accept it as part of the process and to minimise the intensity of the problem where you can - in the next book. For me, much as I hate it, the key is to slow down.

I *know* I can do it. There nothing there I haven't done before.

Whingeing, too, is part of the process ;-)

Why doesn't this come with a handbook?

If the handbook is anything like the computer books I'm currently tackling, all you'd do is throw it across the room in frustration...