Yes, fuzzbucket. It's the "frustration" word I use when I've realized a case of stupidity in myself.
I figured it out. It clicked, of course, during a moment when I couldn't jump in and make repairs. I had to wait the WHOLE work day. WHOLE work day...that's like 8 hours and then the walk home!
What am I talking about?
The reason I've been fighting with Telomere's third book, Ending Eternity. I started in the wrong place. I forgot the cardinal rule. Never, ever, ever, snever (yes, it's a word, an AR word) start in the beginning of the journey.
I started in the "we debarked and headed out" part. That left weeks -- space travel people, which SMPVH (Solar Meter Per Vessel Hour) or not takes a while. All the characters did were fret, worry, and think about their problems. No action...just..."duh, look at me sitting here thinking and worrying about what's going to happen" instead of "look at what the heck is happening!"
How did I come to this smack me in the face moment? I was waiting for a report to run and thought about the book as a whole. The beginning of the mental reel started about 2 chapters in. I couldn't even discern what the first couple of chapters were telling the reader.
So, now that it's figured out I'm feverishly backpeddling to fix the beginning of the story. Thankfully, most of the beginning's emotional introspection can be infused later in the story, in more reactive settings where it's natural. I don't think I've lost that many thousand's of words. Maybe, like, 2k at the most.
Well, good writing all! (And hope you don't have too many fuzzbucket moments like this...)
way to go on getting the inspiration on where the story REALLY starts!
ReplyDeleteGlad the fix came to you. I've had the same problem; it's such a relief to find where the story is really supposed to start.
ReplyDeleteBoy, I can't tell you how many times this has happened to me with a manuscript and then on the third (tenth?) "just can't figure out what's wrong" revision, I get a big red mark from smacking myself in the forehead. Let's "snever" do that again, k? ;)
ReplyDeleteJillian, thanks. I've been writing like a madwoman now. I love when it all starts to click again...I can't keep up.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad too, Connie. It was a relief, let me tell ya. I was trying not to doubt the story and hoping I didn't have a false path on the series. That would've really been a bummer!
ReplyDeleteJ. Rose, welcome to the blog! Yes! Exactly! I'm still reeling from the mark and everyone keeps asking why the bruise (heehee).
ReplyDeleteI agree...snever again *wink* (yeah right...like that'll happen with us and our writer ways...argh!)
As a general rule, start by shooting someone. If you start with an action (or a dead body) it's hard to get to stuck in the doldrums of lost time.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you figured out what was wrong!
Haha! Actually I did start with someone almost dying so...almost killed them off.
ReplyDeleteAnd you're right, I didn't have a flow problem with words then!