And the "writer's restlessness" strikes again
Something--I'm not sure quite what--has precipitated a minor crisis. I read about the writing progress of others and wonder why I'm not making similar progress. I see WIP meters going up and up and reflect on the static nature of my own. But most affecting of all, I remember what it feels like to create, rather than hammer an existing creation into shape, and I really miss that.
I think it is time I realised that not all things in life should be hurried. For much of my writing "career" I have worked at frantic speed, rushing off manuscript after manuscript then turning to something new and sparkly, but ultimately just as transient. Project Cold Witness is the one and only novel that has held my attention span long enough to grow into something really worthwhile. And although I am gratified to know that I'm working through the final stages of its life-cycle as a manuscript (rather than as a product), I feel that I wasn't made for this--I wasn't meant to worry and sweat over how the story is constructed, or about how I can mutilate my dream to make it more saleable.
Don't get me wrong. I understand as well as anybody how important this "mutilation" is: it's the process that changes a dream into something you can submit and maybe publish. But I'm just tired. I'm tired with the story, I'm tired with going over the same ground again and again, and I'm tired with the process. I want, need, a change. I have to be creating again.
But I can't work on Project Silent Falcon. It's linked too closely to PCW, and as long as the core plot of that novel remains fluid and changeable, it will be impossible for me to pin down a story to its sequel. I have to break away for a while--maybe just a short while--and work on something totally different. Maybe something I've never tried before. I've always wanted to experiment with first person POV, after all.
Ideas are starting to grow. I want to write something about real people this time. Real people trying to live normal lives. Forget the fantasy and science fiction angles--just this once--and try to make something different. I know I can do it. If I can write for myself for just one month, without worrying about publishability or future intentions, I'm certain I can go back to Cold Witness and give it the attention it needs and deserves.
Something--I'm not sure quite what--has precipitated a minor crisis. I read about the writing progress of others and wonder why I'm not making similar progress. I see WIP meters going up and up and reflect on the static nature of my own. But most affecting of all, I remember what it feels like to create, rather than hammer an existing creation into shape, and I really miss that.
I think it is time I realised that not all things in life should be hurried. For much of my writing "career" I have worked at frantic speed, rushing off manuscript after manuscript then turning to something new and sparkly, but ultimately just as transient. Project Cold Witness is the one and only novel that has held my attention span long enough to grow into something really worthwhile. And although I am gratified to know that I'm working through the final stages of its life-cycle as a manuscript (rather than as a product), I feel that I wasn't made for this--I wasn't meant to worry and sweat over how the story is constructed, or about how I can mutilate my dream to make it more saleable.
Don't get me wrong. I understand as well as anybody how important this "mutilation" is: it's the process that changes a dream into something you can submit and maybe publish. But I'm just tired. I'm tired with the story, I'm tired with going over the same ground again and again, and I'm tired with the process. I want, need, a change. I have to be creating again.
But I can't work on Project Silent Falcon. It's linked too closely to PCW, and as long as the core plot of that novel remains fluid and changeable, it will be impossible for me to pin down a story to its sequel. I have to break away for a while--maybe just a short while--and work on something totally different. Maybe something I've never tried before. I've always wanted to experiment with first person POV, after all.
Ideas are starting to grow. I want to write something about real people this time. Real people trying to live normal lives. Forget the fantasy and science fiction angles--just this once--and try to make something different. I know I can do it. If I can write for myself for just one month, without worrying about publishability or future intentions, I'm certain I can go back to Cold Witness and give it the attention it needs and deserves.
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