Advice please, uncertain about current project

[Carole]

Move away from it and work with other potential things, Alex. Times change and what worked years ago won't necessarily work now.
I just did that with two things i wrote thirty years ago- romances. They were so outdated, I left them for the kids to read in the next century and think- what was our great-grandmother thinking???

[Dale]

I agree with Carole. If you're not into it, you're not going to be able to do it justice.

[Margaret]

A month seems like enough time to know whether you're into the story and its rewriting. If I were you, I'd move on to another project. Your Inspector Stone series is fantastic and I'm sure there are many readers eagerly awaiting the next installment. As far as the drug lord story, if it's proving that difficult, I'd start over with the same central idea, like you mentioned. You may find that you're able to use parts, but starting fresh might be the impetus you need to really tell the story.

[Matt]

Having the same problem with the third Johnny Wagner novel. Had to step away from it and work on a "reader magnet" novella.

I echo what others have said: work on something else, then return to your problem project at a later date. If it still feels like you're slogging through a bog, perhaps it's time to radically revamp the story or shelve it permanently.

[Anna]

Another writing friend of mine is having the same problem and has decided to concentrate efforts on something completely different - no writing at all for a few months.

I guess it happens to most people and I am forever grateful I don't have an agent breathing hell-fire at me to finish more quickly.

[D.J.]

I'd also say take a break and come back to it.

I did manage to work through a general malaise I was experiencing over my latest novel. I've got to the point where I'm enjoying the story again. It has taught me something, maybe personal to me-don't write things to fit in with someone else's agenda-write what I want to write.

I started this one as a direct result of reading that Radish Fiction wanted Halloween stories last year. Not only did they not do anything with the serial I wrote, writing it on the say so of someone else just put me off working on it.

[Anna]

Alex said: I am enjoying the novel and the characters.


Alex, enjoying the writing will show through in your writing - or so I'm told. And... it's important to enjoy what you are doing if you have so much else to contend with in your life.

I've managed almost 10 hours over the last two days and loved every minute. I know that next week will be impossible and I'll not be able to do much until after Christmas. But every minute I write, I love. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, Alex and everyone else too! Make the world a better place.