There comes a time, I think in every manuscript, where the writing grows sluggish. It's not that I've grown less enthusiastic about the story or have hit a block, the ability to write just isn't there. I hate those moments. The mental torture is excruciating as one part of my brain is still churning out ideas and tweaks, and the other side is stubbornly resisting all attempts to write even a sentence. Burn out phase? Maybe. It's always good to take a break. I had gotten a lot of writing done in December and January and a fair bit in February before this not-so-pleasant writing phenomenon took place.
That's not to say there hasn't been progress. There are days when I make myself sit down and work. The going is slow and laborious, but internally I'm happy because I'm doing something.
I finished up Part 1 and went to start on Part 2 and realized I needed to trim and streamline events to keep from getting redundant in sections. Whenever you can combine events, characters, story revelations, etc. it's always best to do so. Drawing things out to highlight each neat idea also draws out the pacing and often gets repetitive, much to the story's detriment. I blew apart Part 2, did a lot of combining, threw out some material and added in new material ideas. I love where it's going now. I know if I'm not bored with the story lines there's a good chance readers won't be either.
My time has become much more constrictive than it was two months ago, but at least when I sit down to write I'm no longer struggling to write a paragraph. It's become easier to let go of my surroundings and get into the zone of the story. The funny thing is I'm always positive that I'm writing a lot of drivel that will need massive edits once I come out of the zone. Yet when I go back and read what I put down I find the writing is better than when I'm not in the zone. That's kind of cool when you think about it.
So things are taking a darker turn in Trefury #2. I thought I'd get bogged down in large-scale, outside events rather than things closest to the characters, but so far I haven't. I suppose I could go back and write a ton of short stories or off-shoot novels dealing with those other things. Maybe I will sometime. The neat thing about detailed world-building is there is no limit to the stories you can tell, the scenarios you can explore, and the characters you can develop.
That's not to say there hasn't been progress. There are days when I make myself sit down and work. The going is slow and laborious, but internally I'm happy because I'm doing something.
I finished up Part 1 and went to start on Part 2 and realized I needed to trim and streamline events to keep from getting redundant in sections. Whenever you can combine events, characters, story revelations, etc. it's always best to do so. Drawing things out to highlight each neat idea also draws out the pacing and often gets repetitive, much to the story's detriment. I blew apart Part 2, did a lot of combining, threw out some material and added in new material ideas. I love where it's going now. I know if I'm not bored with the story lines there's a good chance readers won't be either.
My time has become much more constrictive than it was two months ago, but at least when I sit down to write I'm no longer struggling to write a paragraph. It's become easier to let go of my surroundings and get into the zone of the story. The funny thing is I'm always positive that I'm writing a lot of drivel that will need massive edits once I come out of the zone. Yet when I go back and read what I put down I find the writing is better than when I'm not in the zone. That's kind of cool when you think about it.
So things are taking a darker turn in Trefury #2. I thought I'd get bogged down in large-scale, outside events rather than things closest to the characters, but so far I haven't. I suppose I could go back and write a ton of short stories or off-shoot novels dealing with those other things. Maybe I will sometime. The neat thing about detailed world-building is there is no limit to the stories you can tell, the scenarios you can explore, and the characters you can develop.
