November 30, 2007

I'm not a fast writer

I ended the month with only 14,165 words. Its more than I ever wrote for anything. Next year I think I will do more planning. I'm still debating whether or not to finish my novel. I know a lot of you guys are writers. What do you do if your book seems boring? If you just can't come up with something that would be "really exciting" for them to do next. Do you just start on a new idea or keep pushing?

Part of me just wants to finish and get to the 50k mark just so I can prove to myself that I can. The other side would rather scrub the bathtub. I don't know which one will win.

1 comment:

Becky said...

What I usually do is have my husband read what I've got. Because my stuff is Inspie fiction (not yet published) and it's not his favorite genre, if he snoozes, I know it's dull. But if he's engaged in the storyline, I know I have a keeper. If he laughs, or is like, "Wow, that's really good!" then I know I'm really heading in the right direction.

Have someone fresh and new read a couple of chapters of what you have and offer their input.

I haven't done this yet, but others I know who already have books published or are being considered for publication have said that the best thing they ever did was to join a critique group of writers locally...either online, or at a local bookstore, and get their input. I've not mustered up the courage yet, but I've had friends read my stuff, and they've enjoyed it.

But get some input before you go much further, because the worst thing is to write thousands of pages of stuff that is boring or dull. When you get fresh input, it also helps revitalize your creative juices, and helps take things in a positive direction.