Sometimes writing is like…

Sometimes writing is a lot like this.

You get an idea–a shiny idea that is all kinds of special and you can’t wait to start writing it. And you feel like the author boss because you have this GREAT IDEA.

And then you sit down and start writing.

Everything is awesome. You’re awesome. The characters are awesome. The plot is awesome. The book is awesome, but something about this idea makes you feel like this

You’re not sure what it is. But you feel… meh. You feel… ugh. You feel like…

 So you might be over reacting a little. As a writer, you’re known to be a tad bit melodramatic from time to time, especially when writing a book, but you can’t help but feel like the whole book is about to come crashing down on you.

So you know it’s time to let someone else read what you’ve gotten done. You ring-a-ding your trusted beta/crit partners and you’re like…

You wait to hear back from your beta reader. Then you do.

Your beta reader says they’re bored reading this and you’re all like:

And they talk about something to do with not connecting with the characters or really seeing that there is a plot or some shite like that and you’re still like:

But then you kind of realize (admit to yourself) that you’re bored writing the book and you’re all like:

You don’t understand. What happened to this great idea? You’re 36,000 words in, so you can’t just stop but you really have no way of fixing the problems, because hey, if there’s no real plot or character development, that’s what we like to call just a wee little problem, but you’re still like whatever.

I’m going to keep writing this book that bores my betas and that bores me! Why not!

I mean, you can’t always write good books. There’s bound to be a universally bad book in you. Like the kind of book that only 10% of the world population enjoys and you’re okay with that.

Okay. You’re not okay with that.

Why write a book that really just sucks. You look at that 36,000 words and you feel like

Wait. One second. That’s NOT how you feel. You feel like this…

Because you know… oh dear God… you know what you have to do. You’re staring at that hard earned word count, finger hovering over the delete button.

You pause, call your beta reader who was bored and tell them you’re about to delete like almost half of a book and they are like

But you know what needs to be done. It’s like killing a friend who’s turned into a brain eating zombie. (Which by the way, Walking Dead marathon starts Monday night!) It sucks to kill said friend, but friend’s gonna eat  you. So die.

So you delete the words and you’re pretty much like this afterward.

An hour later…

Three hours later…

Your significant other is like are you okay?

So you turn on the TV and zone out…

You’ve just watched 9 hours of honey boo boo and you’re like

You end up going back to what you originally planned on writing all those months ago. You know, the idea that your editor and agent LOVED and you were all warm and gushy over.

You remember that idea and are all like:

And that idea is all like…

And then you are like…

And you throw in a good

So the idea doesn’t turn on you like a rat bastard.

You start over, back to page one. It’s scary. It sucks. You try to explain it to your significant other and friends, but they are kind of like this.

But that’s okay, because you’re feeling great about this. You know this is the one. Before you know it, you’ve gotten 10,000 words on the new idea. Three chapters down. And you’re back to feeling like this.

And so, hopefully, the vicious cycle does not start again.