I've reached that magic point with my WIP (work in progress)--you know, the spot twenty feet before the finish line where you look at the remaining ten steps and collapse screaming, "Why?!"
James Scott Bell warns in Plot & Structure, "You are going to spend a lot of time with the plots you choose to write...passion is the most important for your writer's soul and, almost always, your ultimate success."
Oh passion I've got, but most of it wants me to turn a firehose on my computer and laugh manically as the device sparks to death. Here I stand on the brink, wondering if I love this story enough to finish. I imagine it's like any relationship. We go through ups and downs, times when we want to throttle the source of our adoration, and times when we could die of sheer joy. I'm needing some of that bliss right now.
In consequence, I'm attempting to publicly remind myself WHY I love my WIP with the top five reasons.
1. Faux (Fox) is a freakin fire hazard, and so totally awkward I never stop laughing. Josef (Jason Dohring) said it best in Moonlight, "But this is so awkward. I love awkward."
2. The mysterious Sam. Dangerous. Bad mouthed. Ridiculously talented, but also tortured and careful. Learning what makes him tick and why he's so dedicated to his "cause" has me aching to write the sequel.
3. Greg. I'm too much a nerd not to love Greg.
4. Blowing stuff up is awesome. (Yeah, yeah!) That would be my inner tom boy stepping out. Excuse me while I put it back.
5. The ugly duckling. I LOVE transformation stories... And lest I should give away too much, I'll leave it at that.
Can you feel the love? I'm trying. What do you do to rekindle the spark when all you want to do is scream? And what is it you love most about your WIP?
James Scott Bell warns in Plot & Structure, "You are going to spend a lot of time with the plots you choose to write...passion is the most important for your writer's soul and, almost always, your ultimate success."
Oh passion I've got, but most of it wants me to turn a firehose on my computer and laugh manically as the device sparks to death. Here I stand on the brink, wondering if I love this story enough to finish. I imagine it's like any relationship. We go through ups and downs, times when we want to throttle the source of our adoration, and times when we could die of sheer joy. I'm needing some of that bliss right now.In consequence, I'm attempting to publicly remind myself WHY I love my WIP with the top five reasons.
1. Faux (Fox) is a freakin fire hazard, and so totally awkward I never stop laughing. Josef (Jason Dohring) said it best in Moonlight, "But this is so awkward. I love awkward."
2. The mysterious Sam. Dangerous. Bad mouthed. Ridiculously talented, but also tortured and careful. Learning what makes him tick and why he's so dedicated to his "cause" has me aching to write the sequel.
3. Greg. I'm too much a nerd not to love Greg.
4. Blowing stuff up is awesome. (Yeah, yeah!) That would be my inner tom boy stepping out. Excuse me while I put it back.
5. The ugly duckling. I LOVE transformation stories... And lest I should give away too much, I'll leave it at that.
Can you feel the love? I'm trying. What do you do to rekindle the spark when all you want to do is scream? And what is it you love most about your WIP?
What do I do? Usually ignore it until I love it again... but that's not the most proactive approach. LOL. Keep pushing forward and hope for the best?
ReplyDeleteI think with my current WIP I love my main character the most... but I also love the ending, which I have yet to rewrite. So I might hate it when I get there, but here's hoping otherwise. :)
I'm with Faith - I usually ignore it until I love it again. Sometimes, I just read it over, not looking for anything in particular, but just to remind myself what I saw in the story in the first place. Also? I.... EAT MORE CHEESE!!!! Ha ha ha ha... Had to, had to! I mean, come on, cheese is a well-known passion-inducer! ;-)
ReplyDeleteWhat I love about my current WIP... It would be the cat-and-mouse going on between my MC and her old flame all the while her new man is trying so hard to fill his (the old flame's) shoes.
Your characters do sound lovable! And who could resist blowing stuff up? Really? I love the destruction scenes.
ReplyDeleteI'm still cracking up from your first paragraph... yeah, being there, doing that. I was rooting for one of my MCs all through his redemption arc, but last night he was mouthing off and I was this close to writing his name on a bullet.
ReplyDeleteToo much hassle to replace him, though. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Blowing stuff up is the best. And your characters sound interesting.
ReplyDeleteI motivate myself by telling myself stories about my characters as I go to sleep. The stories aren't necessarily following the plot line of the WIP but it keeps me interested in them. I'm always making up some fake situation for them- it does sometimes help me WIP too, though.
I am so glad I came across your post today. I am where you are with my wip. I am 240 pages/52K in, but I just don't want to finish it. I've lost my excitement for the plot. But...I am still pushing through (and it's a struggle), knowing the beauty and joy and excitement will return in the rewrites and revisions.
ReplyDeleteDon't give up on your wip.
Faith--I usually ignore them too, but this one has a deadline. *sigh* I hope you love your ending when you get there too!
ReplyDeleteCrystal--Thank you for the reminder! Everything is better with cheese. I'll have to keep some cubed mozzarella on the desk--so I have something to chew on any time I get peeved.
Leisha--Did you work at a firework stand too for a summer? Nothing better. =)
L--Wow, not a bad idea. Maybe I should play russian roulette with my characters. Hm. Spice it up a bit...
Dawn--The pillow is a great plotting board eh? My problem comes when I sit there plotting until 3 am every night. =)
Susan--Best of luck to you! The joy will return. It has to. It MUST.
I usually try to push through until something lights the spark again . . . and the inspiration returns. Usually that comes in the form of a new scene I could add HERE or a change I could make THERE.
ReplyDeleteI love the plot of my WIP the most. Even though I know it needs tons of work and the characters have to be changed, that's the part closest to me.
I find I have to resort to "absence makes the heart grow fonder". Not much of an option if you're on a deadline though.
ReplyDeleteMy WIP was fun to write, but is proving a pain in the butt to lick into shape. Lots of gory death and blowing things up help though :D
I feel the love! Finish! Finish!
ReplyDeletehehe yep, I feel the love! It's a good thing to regularly go back and remember why we love our stories. It gives us the drive to finish.
ReplyDeleteThis post cracks me up :)
ReplyDeleteI'm with Faith. I just have to leave it alone for a while until my love returns. Since yours is on a deadline, that probably won't work. I say push through. And this top five list should help a lot. It's always a good thing to remind yourself why you have the passion to start with :D
What I love most about my WIP is the constant arguing between the characters. They're always bickering with one another. I've never had so much fun with a group of people who can hardly stand one another!
Also, blowing stuff up is GREAT! I wish more stuff went boom in my WIP.
I usually read it again, FAST. So fast that I don't notice grammar or other hideousness. Just enough to love the story again. Or put it away for awhile and ignore it (absence makes the heart grow fonder - although for me, it usually just makes me think it's even more awful than I ever imagined! LOL).
ReplyDeleteOMG I LOVED Jason Dohring in Moonlight. Josef Konstan was one of my most favorite t.v. characters EVER. ^_^
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I got hit by the same blues as you about 75% through the Doorways rewrite. So I waited for the spark to come back. It came back during a random conversation with one of my blog friends.
Good luck!
Ah,the inner tomboy :) That sneaky devil just loves trying to sneak out ;) Haha, but yeah, I was once a HUGE tomboy, but since then I've managed to atleast starte dressing and acting (to some extent...) like a girl :)
ReplyDeleteAnd explosions? Count me in!