Taking stock of my WIPS
| Yesterday I was browsing some of my favorite blogs, when I came across a post on Larissa's blog in which is taking stock of her WIPs. As I read it, it made me think of my own. So today, after finishing critiquing Shannon's latest MS, I opened the cyber file with all my WIPs, and here's what I came up: 1 - Contemporary Romantic Comedy - 5 chapters 2 - Fantasy - Merpeople - 8 chapters - Greek Gods - Prologue and first 3 chapters 1 - Paranormal/Comedy - 27 chapters (must revise two break into two books) 1 - Contemporary/Erotic Romance - first chapter 1 - Suspense - 2 chapters 1 - Contemporary romance - first chapter 1 - Paranormal romance - first 2 chapters *groans* This is all I've been able to achieve in almost a year, right? So here's my dilemma. I begin the stories, but I'm never ever able to finish them. |
posted by Silma at 11:13 AM
Comments on "Taking stock of my WIPS"
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Crystal* said ... (1:48 PM) :
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Silma said ... (2:49 PM) :
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Kelly Boyce said ... (10:11 PM) :
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Silma said ... (8:28 AM) :
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Larissa Ione said ... (9:08 AM) :
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Silma said ... (1:15 PM) :
post a commentI feel your pain. And I can relate. But here's my advice.
Take two or three. NO MORE. And then work on those. I think you're spreading yourself a little too thin. If you have limited options, then you have limited choices.
It's great to be in the "honeymoon" phase of writing. I could live there. But it won't complete a ms.
So says the woman who needs to put her ass in gear on her erotica. heh
Grins*
Chryscat, I know I'm spread way too thin. Thanks for the advice. My problem is that I'm such a freaking perfectionist that after a few chapters, I sent them to be critiqued and then I spend too much time and energies re-writing them - until the Muses grow bored.
What if you only rewrote them once, the moved on? I used to have the same problem. The WIP I'm working on now I must have rewritten the first 6 chapters a dozen times until I couldn't even look at the story anymore. I put it aside and started editing a ms I had finished. Then I got a request through a contest win for the previous WIP. With the request, and no first draft, I had no other choice but to just sit down and hash out the first draft. It was a huge struggle turning off the internal editor, but it got easier with each chapter. I managed to pound out the first draft and now I'm almost finished the edits. Oddly enough, I found I enjoyed the process much more by doing things this way. The editing was easier because I knew where the story was going. I enjoyed the first draft more, because every day was a new discovery, instead of rehashing the same ole material day after day after day.
Aha! The internal editor! That's one of my problems, Kelley. I rewrote a chapter once about 60 times before I posted it for critique, and then I did like another 10 rewrites based on the input I got.
My internal editor is not on much while writing a chapter or two, but then I get the itch to perfect them so send them to be critiqued. So sometimes a chapter gets a harsh critique, so I must rewrite it and that makes me reconsider that the whole story and well...
The only time my internal editor was totally off was during the NaNo Challenge competition.
Silma, we must be long lost twins, because I'm exactly the same way! I SO sympathize! :(
Larissa, we should create a support group for writers like us. *lol*