A while back, I mentioned that I was struggling with a character of mine. She kept doing really fun things, but...I just didn't like her. I tried all kinds of stuff, but she, and the work in progress, didn't work. It felt hollow and false--it had no soul to sink my teeth into. And it was her fault. Okay, my fault. It was driving me crazy: there were some great scenes in the WIP in question, but I had no burning desire to do more with it. I couldn't throw it out entirely, because those good scenes kept speaking to me--there was really something there--but neither could I continue with it. I didn't even want to write the fun scenes without her, because, like her or not, she was a part of that story. A very bad situation.
Another WIP was languishing, tons of potential, but nothing to drive it. One of the classic problems as a writer is what to do when you can use the whole world. Where do you start? And in writing, you need more than a cool idea to make a book. You need characters to enliven it. Concepts are fine, but in fiction...you need characters.
Usually, I have two projects going, so when one isn't quite ready to be worked on, the other is. But now, both Plan A and Plan B were stalled. So I did what many a good writer has done. I ran away from the problem. Okay, not quite: I was getting ready for Edgars Week and Malice Domestic, so it's not like I high-tailed it to Tahiti (sigh), but I decided I would use that time for a break, and come back to the computer in a couple of weeks with a fresh set of eyes.
On the train to Malice, it hit me. Perhaps I was drawing from the genius of Femme Toni, who was in the seat next to me, perhaps it was submersion in the week-long communion with the mystery writing world, but I realized I needed to take the POV character from WIP #1 and put her into WIP #2. This wasn't as obvious as it might seem from the above: these were intended to be completely different styles, worlds, genres. There shouldn't have been anything in common between them.
I sat, my head down, trying the idea out. When the idea seemed to stand up to most of my mental arguments, I pulled out my notebook and started to write down more thoughts. Suddenly, I understood why my unlikeable character was the way she was, why she behaved in certain ways: in this new "world," she made more sense. All through the rest of the trip, I added to my notes: a good sign.
When I got home, I faced the acid test: the blank computer screen. Miraculously, finally, the words started to appear. It's been slow going, but steady, which is all you can ask of the early days of a new book, a new world, new characters. Huge chunks of the first book suddenly fit--snap!--into the new book, with incredibly minor changes. The POV character is still not quite trust-worthy, but I know why, and I can make her human now. She has a soul, she has guts. The plotting issues are smoothing out, and things are moving ahead.
Whew.
My story has purpose, now. My character is no longer two-dimensional. I listened to that instinct that said, while the first WIP wasn't working, there was something in it that could be salvaged, that should be salvaged. It pays, when writing, not to discard everything in a stalled story; it may not work here, but it may work amazingly elsewhere. I have a reason to explore all the potential in that second WIP, now that I have the right girl to do it. Sometimes you just need to hang in there long enough to fit those parts together, even if they seem worlds apart.
I have always respected, and envied, what writers do, and through these blogs, I am learning that the respect was earned. I liked your blog for its honesty, as I like your writings for their--honesty! Whew, I just realized that I completely believe what you are writing. So I look forward to the next book, etc.
Posted by: Lil Gluckstern | June 03, 2010 at 01:45 PM
Great post, Dana. About 15 years ago, I started a novel centered around a terrific idea. After 100 pages or so, I got stuck and eventually set it aside to start something else. Years went by, and every so often, I'd see the printout of those 100 pages and remember what a great idea it was.
Fast forward to 2009. I'm writing another novel, and once again get stuck. Only this time...you guessed it. I insert the idea from the 15-year-old false start into the 2009 book and voila! It fit like a tongue in a groove.
Don't ever lose track of those discarded ideas.
Posted by: Mike Dennis | June 03, 2010 at 02:03 PM
Wow, thank you so much, Lil! That means a lot to me. It's funny: it's fiction, but it can't work unless it's honest. I hope you'll enjoy the next stories to appear.
Thanks, and--yay, Mike! What a great story--and you're so right. Whatever else writing is, it's economical, in the sense that we're always saving things, retooling them as necessary, occasionally recycling something that wasn't going to work in its original form.
Posted by: Dana Cameron | June 08, 2010 at 05:00 AM