Wednesday, May 29, 2013

What if I just suck?


People!  This “writing thing” is a lot of work!  Nobody told me it would be this hard!  I just thought I would put my half-baked little words down on paper, edit it a couple a times, drink lots of coffee and “Wham!”—Best seller, right? (Insert sounds of doggie-whining here.)

I wonder what’s happening in the stars right now, because it seems to me that many writers (and agents…but they write too) are blogging about the challenges of writing.  And I seem to be doing my fair-share of whining about it.  These blogs have been instrumental to me as as I have found myself, as of late, in the Dark-Hole of Inadequacy and Self-Loathing.   (F.Y.I.  Not as fun as Disney-World though it is located in Florida.) 
 My instincts (and others) inform me this is a natural process which occurs around the fourth full edit of a manuscript.  Let's hope.  I thought to share with you all some of the cheerleaders that have spurred me on to greater feats of bravery and fearlessness during the last week.

So perhaps you are feeling the pinch of fear as your CP lets loose with a manuscript which makes your own MS appear sophomoric at best, and you are wondering why the hell you ever thought you could write in the first place?  HiYah!  Take that fear!  Check out Kate Brauning’s blog entitled "A Writer's Poison: Fear" and get yourself a new pair of huevos. 
 

Think your manuscript is as slow as molasses in January?  Finding stinging criticism in your inbox flaying apart your most cherished passages and characters—or “your little Darlings”  as Chuck Wendig refers to them?  Ka-Chow! To that!  Get Busy!  Edit without mercy and do the nasty wherever and whenever necessary in your manuscript! Purge it in the fires of hell!  (Read how to do it here at "Terribleminds".)  And...save the liver!
 
 

Terrified to rewrite a scene?  Second verse same as the first?  You can rewrite!  You did it once, now do it again but be better!  Be Inspired (with horses), as Alex Yuschik advises in this marvelous blog . 

We can do this, right? 

Write.

What do you do when feeling blue?  Have you ever succumbed to the pits of dispair and just gone back to being a regular old non-writing mortal?  (Gasp!) Please share with us your tricks for getting through the fog!

~Just Jill
P.S.

 
 


 

21 comments:

  1. Hi Jill, I just wandered over from Chuck's blog. I hate revisions! It's not just that it's hard to kill the darlings--all too often I don't even know how to go about it. Individual sentences and paragraphs that need help, no problem. But structural stuff? It's all so interconnected, I just don't know.

    When I really can't handle it, I got back to writing new stuff. As a result, in addition to a whole bunch of short stuff (thanks to Chuck's challenges) I am now editing not one but THREE entire books!

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    1. Excuse me while I faint dead away. You are one brave sould Rebecca. Thanks for stopping by the nut-tree.
      ~Just Jill

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  2. Just remember, sales are in no way indicative of the quality of writing. You must learn to judge success through reviews I think more than monetary gain.

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    1. What?! We are supposed to receive some type of remuneration for writing?
      Sacre Bleu.
      I must have missed that memo.
      ~Just Jill

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  3. Ah, you are in the seventh circle of writerly hell then. Welcome, and have a martini!

    Completely agree with Rebecca about the structural edits - I call it "untangling" and it is very, very haaaaaarrrrrrrddddddd

    Did I mention that I'm currently trashing 30,000 words of manuscript??? Thirty. Thousand. Words.

    Shift on over, Jill my friend, and let's order another round. We deserve it.

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    1. An audible gasp just escaped my lips. Th-th-thirty thousand?!
      Heavens.
      Make mine a double. Extra olives.
      ~Just Jill

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  4. I need a place at Alison's writer's happy hour too. We ALL go through the I'm a terrible writer thing. It's just part of the process, but we also get the I'm an amazing writer thing too. Kinda, sorta almost makes up for the blue days.

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    1. I think that time comes after the third round...of martinis.
      Thanks for stopping by Johanna! Next round's on me.
      ~Just Jill

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  5. You just keep writing. And find support when you need it. That's why I started the IWSG. We really need it!

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    1. We do indeed! Shoulda saved this post for Wednesday...
      ~Just Jill

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  6. Love it. And thanks for the shout-out :)

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  7. One word: wine.

    Just kidding. It's crazy, but I think even successful writers doubt their abilities. I don't worry so much about great "success" as much as I worry about getting a crappy review.

    Hang in there! You can do it. (Um, wine DOES help...)

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    1. Hmmm. Something else to obsess about. Hooray!
      White or red, dear?
      ~Just Jill

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  8. "In the Dark-Hole of Inadequacy and Self-Loathing" is a place I have been living for awhile. Don't know how to get out, but I keep on nicking away at my projects. (sigh)

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    1. Take a left turn at unoriginality and kick down the wall, eh?
      ~Just Jill

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  9. All part of being a writer. Just keep going. And going and going and.... Like that little pink bunny.

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    1. Yes. Bunny. I last longer than the average lithium battery...
      ~Just Jill

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  10. Sometimes I have to stop and remind myself that whatever frustrations I'm feeling about the writing process, there are likely others who are dealing with it too. I'm even inclined to think that fiction writers who never ever get frustrated about their work might not be trying hard enough. We dare to try and that's why we cry! =) (And that's why I have to end this note with a smiley face.)

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  11. I live for smiley faces. Thanks Cynthia. Good Advice.
    ~Just Jill

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  12. I see I completely forgot to add that I read part of your book when I first discovered your blog, and the tempting glimpse put me in a fever of anticipation to read the entire novel.

    Your writing is SO the opposite of suckage!

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Please use your words and comment freely! We really should meet!