Writing: When It Just Isn't Working
Feb. 25th, 2011 10:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jpskewedthroneI'm not having a very good writing week. Oh, it started off great on Monday. I produced 3000 words and then finished off the chapter on Tuesday. I then immediately started the next chapter and I thought I knew what was supposed to happen in that chapter. I wrote on it Tuesday, Wednesday, and yesterday and finished it off. I was excited. I'm nearing the end of the book and this was one of the exciting scenes at the end, full of drama, death, some real good "cool" factor. I formatted it and sent it off to my beta readers, happy with how it turned out. . . .
And then I started writing the next chapter, and guess what? That previous chapter, for all of its goodness and fun and creativity, isn't going to work. I mean, it works as a chapter, and there's nothing wrong with the plot elements (these things need to happen) and there's nothing wrong with the characters or their motivations (they need to do these things), but as I sat down to work on the next chapter and tried to envision the ending of the novel . . . it doesn't work. After some careful thought and not a little bit of depression, I've figured out that what's wrong is the STRUCTURE.
The ending of a novel has to have a structure. There has to be an ultimate moment, where the characters go and do what needs to be done to resolve the issues of the book, or at least deal with them as best they can, and I think what happened here is that I tried to resolve the issues a little too early. In chapter 18, I had the ultimate "Oh, shit!" moment of the book, where everything that's been building suddenly hits the fan and the characters are in the "I'm screwed" position. This is the end of part 3 of the novel. In the fourth part, they're supposed to deal with the situation. Chapter 19 was a recovery, "pick ourselves out of the rubble" chapter. There's no problem with that. But then in chapter 20 I moved directly into "dealing with the problem." And if the characters do that immediately, then the structure is screwed. I think it's all about the high points and lows of any novel. I had a high point (the ultimate high point really) of the novel in chapter 18. Chapter 19 was a lull, but it wasn't much of a breather overall. I think there needs to be a more significant "resting" period, where the characters deal with what's happened emotionally, before they can come up with a plan, charge in, and try to fix things. I think I had them charge in too early.
So today, I'm ripping chapter 20 apart. Everything in here I can pretty much keep for a later chapter, because as I said, it needs to be in the book, but I need to give the reader--and the characters--a moment alone, so to speak. They need to deal with the disaster, come to terms with it, and THEN I can send them racing in to fix it.
And in the process, I think I'll have an ending.
And then I started writing the next chapter, and guess what? That previous chapter, for all of its goodness and fun and creativity, isn't going to work. I mean, it works as a chapter, and there's nothing wrong with the plot elements (these things need to happen) and there's nothing wrong with the characters or their motivations (they need to do these things), but as I sat down to work on the next chapter and tried to envision the ending of the novel . . . it doesn't work. After some careful thought and not a little bit of depression, I've figured out that what's wrong is the STRUCTURE.
The ending of a novel has to have a structure. There has to be an ultimate moment, where the characters go and do what needs to be done to resolve the issues of the book, or at least deal with them as best they can, and I think what happened here is that I tried to resolve the issues a little too early. In chapter 18, I had the ultimate "Oh, shit!" moment of the book, where everything that's been building suddenly hits the fan and the characters are in the "I'm screwed" position. This is the end of part 3 of the novel. In the fourth part, they're supposed to deal with the situation. Chapter 19 was a recovery, "pick ourselves out of the rubble" chapter. There's no problem with that. But then in chapter 20 I moved directly into "dealing with the problem." And if the characters do that immediately, then the structure is screwed. I think it's all about the high points and lows of any novel. I had a high point (the ultimate high point really) of the novel in chapter 18. Chapter 19 was a lull, but it wasn't much of a breather overall. I think there needs to be a more significant "resting" period, where the characters deal with what's happened emotionally, before they can come up with a plan, charge in, and try to fix things. I think I had them charge in too early.
So today, I'm ripping chapter 20 apart. Everything in here I can pretty much keep for a later chapter, because as I said, it needs to be in the book, but I need to give the reader--and the characters--a moment alone, so to speak. They need to deal with the disaster, come to terms with it, and THEN I can send them racing in to fix it.
And in the process, I think I'll have an ending.
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Date: 2011-02-25 05:21 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2011-03-03 02:58 am (UTC)Interesting posts about writing – w/e March 4th 2011
Date: 2011-03-04 03:05 pm (UTC)Writing Tips
Date: 2011-03-04 07:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-03-04 07:57 pm (UTC)You said you weren't having a good writing week. I beg to differ. You accomplished a great deal. You had an epiphany; you know what needs to be done. You're preparing to do what's required, gearing yourself up and choosing how it's to be written. That's a lot.
I'm just saying...
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Date: 2011-03-06 02:38 am (UTC)Knowing that something was wrong is half the battle though.
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Date: 2011-03-04 08:27 pm (UTC)I sympathize greatly. There's such a fine balance between "resting" and "charging in," and also in deciding whether to allow the characters to succeed by failing (in a way) or to allow them some success. I want them to be active in their pursuit of their goal, but part of the theme of the book is how frustration also serves a purpose.
So, yeah. Right there with ya!
http://thewritershole.blogspot.com
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Date: 2011-03-06 02:40 am (UTC)But things are going well now. And everything I wrote can be massaged into the new version, so nothing was really lots in the long run.