Dear Author who thinks she wants to write this book,
Maybe you should just give up on Flyboy’s story. Again. I mean, really, what is this problem you have whenever there are two people who need to appear in the same scene? What are you so afraid of?
I’d say go to work on Max or Plant Kid but you’ve already proved that you have the same problem every time. You’re fine as long as the main character is talking to himself or dealing with the world around him but bring one more person into the scene and you freeze up. Your characters turn into wooden puppets that would be better used as kindling than interesting page turning characters. Just because you’re a super shy introverted loner who is afraid to talk to people in real life doesn’t mean you need to model all your characters in the same mold. Come on, big yawn there, don’t you think?
Don’t you know that you need conflict and conflict is going to come from interaction with other characters?
Don’t you know that you can write pages and pages of crappy non-usable stuff that can be deleted later.
Can’t you remember what it was like to be a teenager anymore? Sure, there was lots of angst but there were lots of thing going on all around you too. People at school. People at home. People at the grocery store.
Why are you so afraid to put people in your book?
Signed,
That other Susan, the one that DOES want to write this book
send her to bed…
the other Susan, that is.
This Susan needs to spill her guts and she doesn’t want an audience, let alone a critic.
methinks
Re: send her to bed…
How right you are.
She also needs some uninterrupted time at the computer and the dog is not cooperating with that. I think a doggie door is in our future. I don’t like them but sanity might take first dibs.
How about…
…a studio door.
“Mommy’s busy right now!”
But dogs. They do need SO MUCH assistance in basics of their function….
“OK. I’m leaving this gift out side your door.”
Re: How about…
Trouble is, the only door to the backyard is IN my office. Sigh. I do think we’ll check out doggie doors.
Susan, I’m shy of commenting since I’ve only just read Hugging the Rock, which I thought was wonderful. (I went right out to read it after I discovered your note about the index cards, and your blog in general.) But can I say, very gently, that I think the Other Susan is being too harsh? It’s so difficult writing early drafts, but I believe absolutely that in time the woodenness will go. You are terrific at writing about relationships, and in time you will find ways to write those scenes that feel so impossible now.
Thank you so much for popping up with a comment. I appreciate the kind words and the support.
The other Susan is often harsh so it is nice to have the words of others pointing out what has worked for them in my novel.
Thank you.
Having done NaNoWriMo without any intention of ever doing so, because it seemed kind of stupid to me, I have to say – there is something about just giving yourself a word count goal and pedaling full speed ahead, knowing that you don’t have to keep what you write. I think it freed something up in me.
I will say that revisions later were somewhat difficult, however.
I always enjoy your letters and I loved Hugging the Rock and I know you can do this. Just keep writing and the voice will emerge. The characters will figure out how to cope with each other too.
Oh, shoot! That last anonymous was me.
Thanks for the support. It’s just so hard to do it, to just let go, but I know you’re right. I’m doing the Feb version of a mini nano over at onegrapeshy hoping it will kick me in the rear and over the hump.
I adore revising, once I finally have something on the bloody page. 🙂