It’s Work In Progress Wednesday but… it’s also something else.
The past few weeks WiPW has been host to some fabulous guest posts but, right now, I’m letting you all read a post just from me. I’d booked out today for myself, not because I’m selfish, but because, not only is today a Wednesday, but it is also the first day of November and, therefore, it’s the start of NaNoWriMo.
NaNoWriMo is something I always say I’ll do to normally little avail. I touched it last year but quickly fell to the twin evils of disorganisation and procrastination. Now though, despite having possibly one of the busiest months of the year approaching, I aim to tackle the beast once more and, to do so, I’m actually going to write my WiP.
“But, Shaun!” I hear you cry “You wrote in your absolutely excellent blog post Can you overthink an idea? about how you were moving on, about how NaNoWriMo would be a fresh new start“. Firstly, thank you for the compliments you’re too kind, and secondly you’re quite right I did. When I wrote that post I was dreading sitting down to write my WiP in the name of NaNoWriMo. I didn’t want to go back to something I was, quite frankly, utterly bored with. The idea felt stale, the characters annoyed me, and I felt there were serious gaps in the plot that ruined the entire piece. I was right, as it turns out. Not about the ideas, or the characters, or the plot, though granted it all needs more work, but about overthinking it, and I was especially right in that I needed a break.
Despite not writing, and despite not having touched my WiP in just under a year, it still consumed my daily thoughts. Each day, I would think about the story I was meant to be writing, the characters I was meant to be bring to life, and the world I was meant to be building. Each day I would repeat scenes over, and over, and over, and over again in my head. “Then this happens, then this happens, then this happens“. Could I face sitting down and writing something I was so accustomed to drilling into my own mind every waking hour? Not really, no.
So, I wrote Can you overthink an idea?, I decided to tackle a fresh exciting idea and I decided NaNoWriMo was the time to do that. I had a plot idea, I had a few characters, and I started to think about it ‘lightly’. I thought about a few themes, a few story beats, but I tried especially hard not to overthink it. The more I did this, the further I got from my old Work in Progress and, whether it’s due to the grass being greener, or whether my new idea just didn’t hold as much excitement, it started to look more appealing. What I actually realised, is that all I really need was a break, I needed to stop thinking about my WiP day in, day out, and that there’s nothing wrong with that. Thinking about it had stressed me out, it had turned it into something that was a slog, taking that break from it and seeing it again in a fresh light has made it look more exciting and attainable. Back in 2016 I pledged that this WiP would be it, it’d be my debut novel, and I don’t want to take that back. I don’t want to devote my time to something new in NaNoWriMo when this other work is calling me. There’s a reason it’s been demanding so much of my thought, and a reason it was so daunting a task, but it’s my approach to it that has shifted.
There you have it. For WiPW and for the start of NaNoWriMo I want to announce that I am once again returning to my WiP. Not only that, but I am writing it from the ground up to improve on the first draft I was probably 20% of the way through before. The break away has done me good. I feel more excited about this story than ever. Whether or not it really does see the light as a debut novel only time will tell, but I certainly want to concentrate on it during this coming month and hopefully have something substantial for some alpha readers to look through over the holidays.
You can read more about my WiP in the first ever Work in Progress Wednesday: WiP Wednesday #1: A Novel in 3 Sentences
Clockwork Clouds 
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I’m not doing it this year. I have done my bit to turn the international novel glut from a small hill into a mountain range and won’t add any more to it. I already have four WIP at various stages of completion so I’m not going to start another one. Until I manage to get someone interested in one of the eight completed novels, I’ve vowed not to write any more of the WIP. I love writing, but really, really hate trying to sell it.
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Even though I am no where near that level of progress, I can empathise with where you’re coming from, Jane. I don’t think it’s cause to stop though, per say, especially if your love for writing is still there. Perhaps your magnum opus is waiting to be revealed which will make the marketing in future a breeze! Idyllic, and perhaps a little ignorant, I know, but still. I think if you still love writing, then the journey should take precedent and the fear of needing to sell it in future shouldn’t put you off… It sounds almost like the magic has been lost, in a sense.
I read your article on your blog and I like your alternative; I’m a huge fan of your poetry and a poem a day is a fantastic goal… Plus it will give us NaNo-ers a small relief when we look away from our word-counts. I also love that you still love your work, but I can’t help but say it saddens me a little to hear of the fear surrounding the “What do you do when it’s done?” question. Then again, that could be my lack of experience and could be because I’ve never even reached that point.
For me, I haven’t even begun to amass that pile… Everything I’ve ever plotted or planned isn’t even close to being finished… So I still have something to prove to myself; I still have that itch… Who knows, when I’m done that itch might be scratched and I might be sufficed but right now… I need to get this done to hopefully show myself I’m capable of completing something… NaNo is the strict structure, the personal motivator, that I need to keep that going! Haha
Sorry for the long reply… Sorry if I am talking beyond my experience, as well. I have a habit of giving my unsolicited opinion on matters far beyond my knowledge. Keep doing what you’re doing, Jane 🙂 Especially the poetry! And know that Abomination is actually quite near the top of my “Read Next” pile!
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You shouldn’t let my feelings influence you at all. You are barely started out, and you have huge enthusiasm. And you’re young. I have the terrible feeling that I’ve left taking writing seriously too late. I started to write seriously when I was having the children—lots of maternity leaves—but I didn’t take the marketing seriously. I even had literary agents ask to read the whole ms and send me pages of criticism. That was ten years ago. It’s so much harder now. Literary agents tell you the story they want to sell and you can’t get near a big publisher without an agent. I’ve done small publishers and don’t recommend the experience.
You have to get that first book finished then concentrate on selling it. I envy you. If I could do it over again, I’d do everything differently. It’s a shame that the book of mine people are most likely to read is the one I am the least attached to. The second and third books of the trilogy are better than the first, but the first ought to be the one that gets the reader hooked. Abomination was the first thing I wrote and not what I would like to be remembered for 🙂
I do love writing and I think I’m good at it, though that isn’t the same as being sellable.
Finish your book and get some unbiased beta readers to look it over. And listen to what they say. Be prepared to rewrite and throw away, prune and trim, slash and burn, and then be prepared to sell yourself, no false modesty, no cringing violet stuff. I wish you the best of luck, because so much of success is luck not talent.
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That’s going to be hard. Did you know that Tolkien didn’t like the first 30,000 words he wrote of The Lord of the Rings and started again from scratch. Good luck.
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Oh boy, it’s definitely going to be hard! haha. Even before taking into account my track record for leaving a project unfinished it’s a lot of work. I just want to at least get the bare bones down by the end of this year… A serviceable story that is perhaps not the most well-written of things but produces a plot that makes sense! If it needs rewriting from scratch again next year, I’ll have to face that, but for now… I need to prove to myself I can make those first steps! Haha.
Thanks for the well wishes, April! I’m going to need all the luck I can get!
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You’ve made yourself accountable, so you’re going to have to explain to everybody why you don’t get if you don’t. Trust me, if you’re writing 50,000 words in 30 days it’s not going to be well-written. Just write and see what happens. You can tidy it up afterwards.
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Crack on man! 🙂
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I’ve cracked! Both on, and mentally I think… It’s all progress from now on!
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😊 good luck!
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