It Was a Fun Streak

 
Today, after 97 new words of writing, I decided Sigils was broke.
 
I think I had begun to see the first cracks last week, maybe even the week before, but I kept pushing forward. Today, though, I realized what was wrong: Passivity.
 
One of the two main characters was too passive. She had no goals. She was just reacting. There wasn't anything she wanted with sufficient yumph to drive her half of the story.
 
A friend asked me how I hadn't spotted that problem in the outline phase. My response was that in the shorter form of the outline, the passivity didn't stand out. You pile nearly 15K words on a passive viewpoint, though, and it becomes quite obvious.
 
Another reason, I think, is that I built this story back in 2005. I've learned a lot about storytelling since then, and how I tell stories has evolved considerably, but when I went over the outline again, just before starting to write, I was still "too close" to the story to properly assess it.
 
Plus, I think if I was going to write this story, I should've written it back then. Six years is a long time, even when you're over 30. A lot changes in six years (e.g., I'm "over 40″ now). I'm not the same person I was when I first hammered out that outline. Some stories might be "always good", but I think this one had a write-by date that's already passed.
 
Finally, while I'm being critical of my own story and outline and writing, there were other problems that were showing up. The magic was neither compelling nor feeling integral. There was no sense of how the magic worked. The two main characters and the villian were all feeling flat. The lust for power wasn't coming through at all. Even the violence and brutality were lacking (even after two bodies). In short: I wasn't buying my own story.
 
That's not a good sign.
 
So I've pulled the plug on Sigils. Sigils goes back on the shelf to await eventual fixing or perpetual dust gathering. Maybe I'll pick it up again some day and see if I can fix it. Or maybe not. I'm OK either way.
 
Since 2002 I have finished two nonfiction books and five novels and dozens of short stories. In that time I've only abandoned two novels, including this one. Coincidentally, I abandoned both for the same reason: main character passivity. I think a character can be passive at the beginning of a novel or story, but he should develop a driving goal real soon after the story begins. Obviously, I should make a point of avoiding this pitfall in the future. Learn from my mistakes, that sort of thing.
 
Just to mention it: I also abandoned both novels at about the 30,000-word mark. For some reason, that doesn't seem like too much of a waste. 30,000 words seems like a good point at which to assess the viability of the novel. That's about where I give up on most novels that I decide to not finish reading, as well. Go figure.
 
This afternoon I started brainstorming new novel ideas. My plan is to do that the rest of this week, with the goal of hammering out about 5-10 new outlines or at least long summaries. Once I've done that, I'll pick one of the outlines and start writing again.
 
So, counting today's paltry production, my writing streak went 56 days. That will be the new record to beat. Starting in about a week.
 
-David
 
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