So Tired

We're a week into November and my novel is really not going well this year. I loved the concept. Really, really loved it. Right up until I started writing it.
Part of my problem is that I read this article about how various great authors do their thing. It made me feel very bad about my prep and technique. And especially my characterization.
And then I realized that this novel is suffering from all of the things that I didn't like about the others. I'm not at all happy with how I write people. Even worse, I seem to keep falling into stories where there is next to no interaction between said people.
So what was my concept this time? Well, I still don't want to say in case I somehow salvage the darn thing, but let's just say that it precludes even the possibility of interaction. Which isn't an easy feat, believe me.
To top it all off, this first week has been an absolute wreck for writing. The first started off wonderfully. On the second I got sick and spent most of two days falling behind. Somehow, I caught up by day five but then failed utterly on six and now seven.
The first few years were pretty easy with this. I'll be shocked if I somehow finish this one.

Ugh.

Comments

Kate said…
I wish I could remember the name of the book I loved so much, but it's about an apartment building. And the people that lived in it, but the characters never meet.

And unfortunately, my brain melted and refuses to write anymore right now. This is why I stopped journaling. I didn't want a record of that time in my life. And perhaps I still don't. I'd rather stop writing than go crazy.
6:49 AM
DD4 said…
Please don't throw in the towel. I don't think Shakespeare got everything published that he wrote.

They often say to write about things you know. Please give it another try.
1:54 PM
Alfred T. Mahan said…
Peder, if it's any consolation (probably not, but what the heck), I've discovered when I write that there are certain areas where I excel, and certain areas where I absolutely stink on ice. My friends who've read my work all enjoyed my characters and various action sequences until (to steal from Bill Cosby)...there was one section that just hit them like a dead fish in the face, but I can't write that "style" to save my life.

So you're not the only one. Hang in there!
2:25 PM
Peder said…
Thanks for the nice comments. I'm not worried that I'm writing something unpublishable. The problem is that it isn't fun. And time has become too hard to come by to spend so much of it with something that isn't fun or satisfying.
7:43 PM
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