On Monday I had a lot of extra free time, not having any writing to do. I decided I’d take that time to revisit my novel, which has been on hiatus for over a month now. I put it aside so I could spend more time working on marketing myself and getting freelance clients–I’d deluded myself into thinking I wouldn’t have time to work on the novel every day.
After reading what I’d written so far, I found that the initial spark of “holy shit, I’m actually going to write a novel” had faded significantly. When I started it, my only writing credit was a zombie fiction blog. Now I’m something resembling a professional writer and, looking back, what I wrote seems almost pathetically bad.
Still, I started writing it for a reason. The thing is, I didn’t forget why I started writing it–I had some fairly emotional reasons behind the idea. My love for the story had just waned in the time off. So I took to the Internet for encouragement.
Suck it up, writer.
My first stop was Chuck Wendig’s post, “Why You Won’t Finish That Novel” which I’d read before I even started writing it. And I found part of what I needed to hear: Between new novel ideas and working like a crazy fucker, I’d lost the original excitement of what I thought was a fantastic and (more importantly) marketable idea.
When I visited Twitter I found more good advice:
@KeyboardHussy: If you can fix it & find the passion to, then you should. Even if it just ends up being a lesson in weeding your wordy garden.
@Albert_Berg: Then figure out what that kernel of inspiration was and try to salvage it. Just don’t try to flog a dead marmot. Never works.
Truth in advertising: Flogging a dead marmot never works (for anything.)
No excuses.
I started this novel with the end goal of finishing it. Ideally I wanted to publish it but my main goal was just to finish the damn thing. Failing at that, I might as well just give up on the whole “I’m gonna be a writer” thing.
So I set in mind to reread it and look through my notes to find that creative spark again. Because really I have no excuse not to finish it. Nothing is stopping me. I still believe in the story. I just need to rekindle the passion.
Do it. Do it now.
You might find yourself having the same problem with your novel. Maybe it’s not the great masterpiece you once thought it was. Maybe you’ve fallen out of love with your protagonist. Maybe you just forgot why you started writing it in the first place.
Whatever reason we have for wanting to shelf our work is not good enough. Any writer worth his salt can save a story that’s worth saving. Hell, I did a week’s worth of prewriting on this novel. I can’t let that go to waste.
So saddle up, pour a glass of bourbon, and get back in there. Your hands aren’t nearly dirty enough anymore, and that fucking novel is growing moss and mold. Air it out, dry it off, and light a fire under its ass.
Make that novel your bitch again.
-Austin
You might also like:
- You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ with the Novel
- What Makes a Successful Writer?
- The Regular Schedule
- The Writer’s Workout Plan
