Friday 24 February 2012

And lo, it was awesome.

 Now as some of you know, I've been working on Book The Third in between revisions on the book I got signed for (Yes, it would be easier if they had cool titles. No, they don't have cool titles.)

I even wrote a query and synopsis for Book The Third before I started it in an attempt to avoid previously experienced meandering and rubbishness in my writing. And then I started my lovely new book and wrote 19k words of it.

And then I stopped. Because Book The Third has no plot. A shocking oversight on my part, I know, but I really thought it had one when I started. I knew my characters; they had backstory (not in the book, of course), they had complex realtionships and problems and motivation. The setting? It was great. But plot? Yeah, MIA.

I'm not prepared to let go of Book The Third though. I'm happy to put it aside while I attempt to come up with a plot to go with the great setting and the great characters, but can I actually ditch it? Not finish something I started? (This would be a writing precedent for me.) I don't know.

While I was considering whether abandoning my work made me a big loser or just a pragmatic writer, I had a NEW IDEA. A fully-formed, packed with plot idea that had great characters to boot. I wrote said shiny and exciting idea down and asked my critique partner Michelle Krys what she thought of it and what I should do whilst I pithered and prevaricated about ditching Book The Third.

And here's why I love Michelle >

OMG! I F***ING LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I haven't read (Book The Third) yet but I can already tell you that you need to write this. NOW! I want to read it now so I can tell you that you'd have a best-seller on your hands. Please write it now??

Somewhat bolstered by the amount of exclamation marks, I wrote a synopsis.

And lo, it was awesome (even if I do say so myself.)

I fully intend to start Book The Fourth this week. But Book The Third is looking at me balefully, forlornly, plotlessly. And I'm feeling like it might look at me like that until I finish it.  

So my question is this - have you ever set a work aside? Did you go back to it afterwards?

18 comments:

  1. I have 'abandoned' a book before, yes. It was, similar to yours, rich with characters and backstories and I put quite some effort into the world-buiding and at 37k I realized that no, there was no obvious plot in the novel. So I set it aside. I have not come back to it yet but I do plan to get back to it in the future. I keep a notebook on hand and whenever I come up with an idea for the plot or something that can make the characters even richer, the world even more realistic - I write it down in said notebook. So when I finish my current two WIPs I might have enough notes to really work on the abandoned novel... I don't feel bad abaout it because there's a story I still want to tell that I have not told yet. Setting it aside doesn't mean forgetting it.

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  2. You're right, but even though my new WiP is going well, I still feel uneasy!

    Good idea about the notepad - I keep thinking about the story, but only in a vague sort of way. Maybe if I tried writing something down I could get a better handle on a more concrete way to fix what's broken.

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  3. I'm thinking about setting aside the WIP I was working on before I started a round a revisions. Like Yasemin, I have 37K words. I like what I have so far and hope to come back to it one day, but right now it's not working for me. The words aren't flowing. And something's missing...but I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe I'll have an ah-ha moment for it in the future. In the meantime, this exciting new idea for a WIP is swimming around in my head and I can't ignore it.

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    1. I felt the same way - I'm not quite sure how I can fix what's missing yet. But, having started Book The Fourth, I can't say that I regret the decision to set the other one aside. It's niggling at me that I've started something and not finished it, but this new idea couldn't be ignored either. The whole thing practically plotted itself!

      Here's to exciting new ideas all round! : D

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  4. In the same boat to be sure. I put aside my book the third to write my new, shiny, lovely and exciting book the fourth. And while I don't regret it, I did set aside a fully formed book complete with complex characters AND plot so I'm terrified that I'm running down the wrong road, burning bridges as I go. I've even considered writing both in tandem, but I don't roll that way...and if book the second gets picked up, not sure I can juggle revisions on in plus drafting on two others.

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    1. I don't think those bridges are burned. More like disused for a while : )

      Have you asked your agent what she thinks of the ideas?

      I'm a little concerned about having to do a revision on Book The Second and then go back to Book The Fourth, but I can't sit here and do nothing, so it's going to have to work.

      Really need to think of titles for these books!!

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  5. Well, as you know, I've set aside a book to work on other projects, but it still remains a great white elephant in my mind - always there, always taunting me. One of these days, I'll have an epiphany and know how to fix it. Until then, I say, write what speaks to you.
    Can't wait to hear all about the new book idea. :-)

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    1. This is what bothers me. It's UNFINISHED BUSINESS!

      I might post the first chapter on Scrib when I've gotten a little further into the new thing - just to see what you guys think : )

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  6. I ditched my second book after 19K for the same reason--it just wasn't speaking to me and it was too hard to write, and not in a good, challenging kind of way, but a 'I'm forcing this' kind of way.

    Having read chapter 1 of Book the Fourth, I can say you made the right choice, Ruth :)

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    1. Thank you! The more I write of it, the more I think so too : )

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  7. I'm so glad you've got something shiny and new to work on while stewing over Book the Third :) Good luck! I know it'll be awesome!

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    1. Thanks for the vote of confidence. I do hope so : D

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  8. I love your working titles :) I do this all the time, which is probably why I haven't finished anything yet lol! But I will, I will. Anyway, I don't see anything wrong with putting your Book The Third on the shelf while you write Book The Fourth. You can always come back to it.

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    1. This is a first for me. I've always been determined to finish what I start, and not just in writing, so it feels weird not to see it through!

      I think it's just going to have to eat at me a little bit until I can figure out how to fix it.

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  9. I'm currently at a point in my MG WIP where I'm tempted to drop it and move on. I love my characters and story, but right now, I'm forcing the story out in each writing session while a new pretty, sparkly thing flutters in front of my eyes.

    I'm outlining sparkly and I'm curious to see what I'll be writing in a week or two...

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    1. I'm currently writing more words a day than I was writing on the WiP I've set aside with a LOT less effort. The more time passes, the more sure I am I made the right decision.

      I don't think I'll be able to live with never writing the other one at all, but for now I'm excited to be working on the new and sparkly. 13k words in and looking good!

      Best of luck with your decision : )

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  10. It's official--Michelle was right again :P

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