So, a couple weeks ago I did a blog about writing a book in a month. I have sorely failed at that task, as the book I was planning to write still sits languishing on my computer, only 2k or so done. Ultimately, it falls into the same category of why my last two manuscripts were rejected by editor X of publisher Y. They just may not be right for the audience. So last week, I started something else. It reads like quite a few of the books I've read from publisher Y, but it still has my own flair to it. Hopefully this one takes.
The only thing is that it's not quite done yet. I've only got one scene left to write and it's that dreaded/euphoric final sex scene. Normally I can hammer out a sex scene (no pun intended) in no time at all. But I'm just not in the mood for it right now. To the point where I feel like if I even tried my brain would explode. Hopefully I'll be able to finish tonight and get the story off to betas by Thursday. Maybe I just need a break from it. Maybe I need to visit my Little Monster. I dunno.
Does this happen often to erotica writers? How do you keep yourself from losing interest by the time you get to the end of the book?
I've banished more than a couple manuscripts in my day, both erotica and romance, to the Drawer of No Return. And with perhaps two exceptions, I don't plan on ever taking them out again. Some recipes just don't pan out.
ReplyDeleteMy failed stories (which are nothing to be ashamed of) fell flat for various reasons… Limp conflict. I started writing before I really knew who the characters were. Or a seed idea from the story sprouted into a much stronger, but definitely separate, book. I'm lucky in that I usually don't get past the 10K mark before I realize a story just doesn't have "it".
One thing I think is important, however, is to remember that if you grow bored with a story, readers will too, tenfold. Avoiding the story because you're feeling lazy is one thing, as is needing to step back for a fresh look or to get over a plot hump before you can break through. But sometimes a first draft just isn't going to make the grade, and I think it's a key skill for a writer to know the difference. Never willfully, miserably plow ahead on a story if your gut tells you the poor suffering beast needs to be taken behind the barn and shot. Forward momentum's one thing. Downward momentum's just grave digging.
If you don't fantasize about the characters when you've been forced from your computer for an hour or day or week or even a month, something's missing. Take a break to assess and see if you catch yourself missing the story. If not, kill it. Toss the fertile bits onto your creative compost heap and get to work planting the next story's seeds.