Wednesday, April 1, 2009

It's Back!

My writing mojo that is.

Calligrapher, 1984Image by kattebelletje via Flickr


I've been in such a funk lately, not sure why I haven't been inspired to write up my last few chapters on Instinct to finish the first draft... now I know why. The chapters I have left suck! I can see why I outlined them in the beginning, but over half of them aren't going to make the final cut in this story. Sure, the scenes actually happened to Casey, but the reader doesn't need to be bored with all of those details when they don't really further the plot.

I made a decision this morning. My first draft is DONE!

Sure, I have a couple of chapters that aren't "complete", but I have them fully outlined and the parts that aren't complete will most likely be changed anyway. I'm starting on my second draft and feel that unexplainable energy that I felt writing the story before. I started seeing the characters in my head again and envisioning scenes that need reworked. It's an amazing feeling let me tell you!

I'm going to re-read a section of chapters that are done today to get ready to work in the mythology information. In my head I can see how to make this work where it isn't an info dump now! Woot!

As for my other to-do list:

1. Layer in some scenes for a major character that kind of got pushed to the background in his scenes: I have so many ideas for how to do this now. This is going to be so much fun!

2. Add in some extra paranormal aspects to Casey's gift and their ramifications to the plot: Love, love, love this idea now! The best part is that I get to add in these same abilities on a couple other characters. And this helps explain what happens to one character at the end perfectly.

3. Rewrite 2-3 scenes from another character's POV: I know at least two chapters that I want for this, but need to see if the chapter after that can be reworked from his POV as well. It's a tricky situation because I need to let the reader get to know this character without giving too much away that would ruin the twist at the end.

4. Figure out what I'm going to do with my "boring" scenes: Well, this one is fairly easy. Most of them are going to be cut or completely re-outlined to the point where I might as well cut them and start from scratch.

I was really starting to wonder if I'm meant to be a writer or not. It's a bit disconcerting to have your writing mojo fizzle like mine did on this story. Now I realize that I was trying to force myself to finish my boring chapters instead of following my own "instincts" that said to start the rewrites. I am so happy to be back to this frame of mind and see things being written fairly quickly in the coming month.

You wanna know how giddy this change in attitude has me? Well, it's no secret that I am NOT a morning person, but I woke up early this morning (well, early for me... especially on a day that my husband is watching the toddler). But anywho, I woke up and realized what I needed to do and everything came together so wonderfully in my head. My favorite scenes started playing themselves in my head as I re-acquainted myself with the characters that have been so silent for the past weeks and months. I grabbed my bedside notebook and started scribbling down notes and ideas. The excitement is so intense that I'm not sure how I'll get through reading over a couple of chapters before I dig in and start writing.

I haven't drank alcohol in about three years because of the whole pregnancy and nursing thing, but I think I'm buzzing on this writing mojo feeling! Woo, riding the writing high!

For anyone else who feels like they've lost their writing mojo, I have some advice: re-evaluate what you are trying to do with the story. Are you trying to make yourself go against your instincts? Toss out your preconceived notions on how a writing process is supposed to go and just do things your own way. When you really think about it, every known writing process started off as someone's instinct that ended up working so wonderfully that people emulated it. Maybe someday people will be following your process!

But, I need to get to work organizing my notes and reading a few chapters that need rewrites.

So, until I blog again...
Talk 2ya later...

~Willow
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8 comments:

Amethyst Willow said...

Yay! Well done for finishing your first draft, I'm glad you've gotten your writing buzz back too ^_^

Unknown said...

I'm so happy for you! getting to that point is thrilling.

@GeekWillow said...

Amethyst Willow: Thanks! It feels so much better having the writing buzz back too.

beth: It is thrilling! What's sad is that if I had listened to my gut instincts, I would've been at this point over a month ago. D'oh!

Kristin said...

Have I mentioned that I hate you, love you, envy you, and admire you all at the same time? Heck, I still owe you a motivational email! I'm really proud of you! Keep me posted and since saving to disc, my writing has been on a roll. Will email you soon about it! Mwua!

@GeekWillow said...

LOL Kristin! Thanks! Now I just have to keep this writing high going so I can finish this set of second draft rewrites.

So great to hear that your writing is going well too. All you needed to do was that one little step of saving stuff to disk to motivate you to get writing. Yay!

Aeryn said...

YeaY!!! I am so happy for you! Congrats on finishing the first draft. I can imagine it is an awesome feeling. I am so glad to hear that you have all your writing energy back. You are completely right, going with your instinct is the way to go. Whenever I am being forced to write something I do not like, it takes forever... Like right now for example... I have to finish this annoying little project (that I used to love so long ago I can;t remember) but I would do anything else but... Can't wait to read the draft once you are done with the changes. Yeay, something good to look forward to for me :)

Robyn Campbell said...

YAY Willow! Don't ya feel electrified? Can't wait to hear you're subbing to agents! Congrats, girl! :)

@GeekWillow said...

aeryn: Thanks! It is an awesome feeling, I still can't believe that I'm ready to start the second draft and finally work on all my rewrite ideas.

Robyn: Thanks! I do feel electrified with the possibilities looming in the future for my characters. I have a bit of work until I'm anywhere near the great quest to find an agent, but believe me, when it happens, I'll be blogging every step of the way!

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