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I'm a writer and library worker who wears many hats. I believe a good book and a good piece of chocolate are the keys to a happy life.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Breaking Up with My WIP

Yes, I’m afraid if something doesn’t drastically change, I’m going to have to break up with my WIP. We took a nice long break while I got ahead on some other deadlines and wrote the Sharing Through Song manuscript. I really was excited to get back to it, but then reality started to set in yesterday.


It’s still a really good story, it’s still a story I’d love to tell, but I began to realize that I don’t think it’s the story I’m supposed to be telling right now. Either that or I’m not telling it right.


Something is off. I’m forcing the plot to conform to the story line and that’s compromising the believability. It would definitely work in another time or place, but not where I “need” it to.


So, at just under 11,000 words I think I’m going to break the ties that bind me to my current WIP. I don’t think it’s gone forever, maybe somewhere down the line I’ll be able to fix the story and create what I’d originally hoped to express. In the mean time, I think I’m going to have to start dating projects that have been on the backburner for a while. Some of them have been there so long that I’m sure trying to court them will feel more like a blind date than a friendly re-acquaintance. Still, a girl’s got to try. Somewhere out there is a manuscript that needs me desperately. I simply can’t live on nonfiction alone. :)

2 comments:

Shirley Bahlmann said...

Ouch. It can be painful to make that break, or it can be freeing.
Whatever you do, keep on writing.

Unknown said...

It's so sad when you have to break up, isn't it? Just toss it in the drawer/bookcase with other WIP's you may eventually get to. I've got a few of my own, too.