Wade Kelly's Blog - Posts Tagged "wip"
Silence
I don't know about any of you, but sometimes I need silence. Like the hustle-bustle of life can get so crazy that I can't hear myself think. Being a writer it is kind-of essential to think. Everything, literally, is in my head! Yesterday, I shut off. There wasn't anything going on. It was actually very depressing by the end of the day. I felt very blah. I felt drained and I felt cold, and I wasn't motivated to write anything although I had some time to. It was aggravating in some sense because sometimes there is so little time to write so when I had a chance, my mind wasn't working.
Then... I went to bed. Right before falling asleep a story-line hit me. Then I dream it, and wake up to it. And oh my gosh, it is dominating my thoughts! How am I supposed to finish my current WIP if this new one will not leave me alone? GRRR. I have to take time out now to write down the details so I won't forget them! Sorry, no details. I get paranoid every once in a while about people stealing my ideas if I share them too soon. One thing, is that it might be YA. I only say that because the age of the characters is young. (High School age.) So very little sex and more about the story is what might happen. There is also a strong girl character. That should be interesting. I've not written a strong "girl" part in too many of my tales. We'll see how it all turns out. No title in mind either.
on the WIP, and TCOL... not much to tell yet. I think the biggest problem with TCOL is that it is too long. I need to cut words, sentences, &/or scenes. Should not be too hard, but it might take TIME as I need to go through it carefully. I hope to get to that by the end of the month.
WIP... We are calling it MRJWC. (My Roommates a Jock? Well, Crap!) I have about 68k with a chapter or two to write. I have a "tentative" Beta reader. (I only say tentative because this is the first we have worked together and she hasn't read my stuff before.) I am taking it slow and hoping our working relationship will go well. So far I've sent a few chapters to get a feel for her thoughts and criticism. So far, she has pointed out some flaws that I COMPLETELY missed when writing it. ahhhh. *sigh*. As frustrating as it is to see flaws in CHAPTER 2!!! (beginning of the book, mind you.) It is also very good to see that she is a "thinking" person. (Not that I am insinuating ANYTHING about people in general NOT thinking.) But I am saying it to say that she was not just simply saying, "Oh, I like it!" blah, blah, without anything constructive so as to not hurt my feelings right off. She was blunt and pointed out the flaw!
So, thank you, dear BETA reader! :)
I need to see the flaws. That is the purpose of a beta reader. So, with the one major flaw in chapter 2, I started thinking about other conflicts. I have three characters that are basically the same. WHY? You ask. Because I'm an idiot. I about 7 major characters in MRJWC. (two MCs and 5 others that play a major part in it.) Of the other 5 side characters, I found that I put the same personality traits in 3. This is so dumb. So, now I have to alter them. I think this is partially why my brian shut down the other day. It is daunting sometimes to think that I have to edit through 68k and rethink the actions and dialogue of the characters so they don't repeat each other.
Plus, I have POV shifts that I want to make sense and not confuse people when you all read them. (I know how some readers have POV shifts.) I also have some flashbacks that were confusing to the Beta. I need to fix those too! So, today, besides my day job, I need to think clearly and jump at my tasks with enthusiasm, not dread.
My conclusion .... being a writer is very difficult. Getting off the ground is very difficult. Not getting discouraged is very difficult. Why do I do it? I guess I like to torture myself. Is a masochist the one who gets off from pain? Maybe that's me.
Then... I went to bed. Right before falling asleep a story-line hit me. Then I dream it, and wake up to it. And oh my gosh, it is dominating my thoughts! How am I supposed to finish my current WIP if this new one will not leave me alone? GRRR. I have to take time out now to write down the details so I won't forget them! Sorry, no details. I get paranoid every once in a while about people stealing my ideas if I share them too soon. One thing, is that it might be YA. I only say that because the age of the characters is young. (High School age.) So very little sex and more about the story is what might happen. There is also a strong girl character. That should be interesting. I've not written a strong "girl" part in too many of my tales. We'll see how it all turns out. No title in mind either.
on the WIP, and TCOL... not much to tell yet. I think the biggest problem with TCOL is that it is too long. I need to cut words, sentences, &/or scenes. Should not be too hard, but it might take TIME as I need to go through it carefully. I hope to get to that by the end of the month.
WIP... We are calling it MRJWC. (My Roommates a Jock? Well, Crap!) I have about 68k with a chapter or two to write. I have a "tentative" Beta reader. (I only say tentative because this is the first we have worked together and she hasn't read my stuff before.) I am taking it slow and hoping our working relationship will go well. So far I've sent a few chapters to get a feel for her thoughts and criticism. So far, she has pointed out some flaws that I COMPLETELY missed when writing it. ahhhh. *sigh*. As frustrating as it is to see flaws in CHAPTER 2!!! (beginning of the book, mind you.) It is also very good to see that she is a "thinking" person. (Not that I am insinuating ANYTHING about people in general NOT thinking.) But I am saying it to say that she was not just simply saying, "Oh, I like it!" blah, blah, without anything constructive so as to not hurt my feelings right off. She was blunt and pointed out the flaw!
So, thank you, dear BETA reader! :)
I need to see the flaws. That is the purpose of a beta reader. So, with the one major flaw in chapter 2, I started thinking about other conflicts. I have three characters that are basically the same. WHY? You ask. Because I'm an idiot. I about 7 major characters in MRJWC. (two MCs and 5 others that play a major part in it.) Of the other 5 side characters, I found that I put the same personality traits in 3. This is so dumb. So, now I have to alter them. I think this is partially why my brian shut down the other day. It is daunting sometimes to think that I have to edit through 68k and rethink the actions and dialogue of the characters so they don't repeat each other.
Plus, I have POV shifts that I want to make sense and not confuse people when you all read them. (I know how some readers have POV shifts.) I also have some flashbacks that were confusing to the Beta. I need to fix those too! So, today, besides my day job, I need to think clearly and jump at my tasks with enthusiasm, not dread.
My conclusion .... being a writer is very difficult. Getting off the ground is very difficult. Not getting discouraged is very difficult. Why do I do it? I guess I like to torture myself. Is a masochist the one who gets off from pain? Maybe that's me.
