Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Augh!

Yes, the sound of true writerly frustration, when you realize the book you've been working on is probably heading for the shelf.

I hate wasting time! And I feel like I have. I love Angie and Fish. I do. But. The books not doing it for me.

I think working on HOL and HOTM the last month has ruined me. HOL has a tight suspense plot, and HOTM has a meaty murder mystery. Next I'll be working on ABM, another "big" plot. Angie and Fish? Not so much. I enjoy the big stuff and I think that's why I'm just not feeling the love with Stay With Me right now. I have the synopsis, I can make the page count daily, but it's kinda like eating a Happy Meal burger when I want to be tearing into a thick juicy steak.

So I have two choices:

1) Keep going on SWM. Finish it before school starts.

2) Shelve it until a later time (maybe Christmas vacation?) and work on Chris's book, which is a big plot, and/or the non-Chandler County book, the first in a cold-case trilogy idea I have. It's a big plot, too.

I hate not finishing something I've started but I don't want to be frustrated later either.

So I have thinking to do. Great. Just wonderful. (Ignore me while I pout here a second.)

Pondering a promo contest too. More on that soon.

4 comments:

Elisabeth Naughton said...

Um. Yeah. That's me. That's what I did. Wrote about 200 pgs in one that ended up the same way. I eventually shelved it because it just wasn't working.

Solution? The wip. Which is a BIG book. OMG. It's almost too big. I've gone the other way.

Joan Swan said...

I'd suggest shelving it for now. Maybe not all summer, but for now. I soooo know this feeling--the frustration of both NOT finishing it and FINISHING it, but having it be wrong.

I think starting on The big plot will make you feel better, get you back into the flow, maybe even give you some fodder to work with on the one that's not moving.

Good luck

Kristina Knight said...

what Elisabeth and Joan said, double. :)

MJFredrick said...

I hate not finishing a book, too, and I'm having the SAME trouble with Breaking Daylight. Problem is, I did that to BD last summer. Sigh.