Last week when I met Jennifer Weiner (I promise I’ll stop talking about this as soon as this post is over…maybe), she asked me, “Are you a writer?” And I said, “Yes! I’m working on a novel.” She said, “Oh, great! What’s it about?”
Cue silence.
“Ummm, well…it’s about…people in high school?” I stammered.
Brilliant answer, Jess. Really smart and cool. You can’t even describe your own novel! Where’s the perfectly practiced pitch? The 10 second elevator speech to describe my labor of love?
The second I blurted out my answer and Jennifer Weiner raised her eyebrows and said, “Oh, cool!” I knew I needed to re-evaluate my novel.
Let’s be honest; I haven’t done much writing since my creative writing class ended. I haven’t felt inspired and I wasn’t crazy about what I had written. My work in progress felt like a copy cat of Gossip Girl, but located in Philadelphia with way more daddy issues. As much as I tried to get away from that Gossip Girl mentality, I kept getting sucked back in.
I was so embarrassed when I didn’t have a straight answer for Weiner. I knew then and there that I needed to re-evaluate what I was doing.
I either need to hash out the work in progress and figure out a way to make it more interesting and to make it my own or I need to go back to the drawing board and think of a new idea. One that excites me more and inspires me to sit down and write.
The only problem is, I don’t have any ideas. I know, I know. What person who calls themselves a writer doesn’t have a back pocket full of ideas? But somehow, I don’t.
What’s your advice for me or for someone in a similar situation? Back to the drawing board or better hash out the the work in progress?
Absolutely 100% back to the drawing board for a new idea. If you aren’t excited about it, then ditch it. You may come back to it later and figure out what is wrong, or it may be an under the bed project that never sees the light of day again. You may even dissect it a little and take out the parts that work. I like this idea here, but it is not working with these characters. Or I like these characters but this idea isn’t working for them. But put it away and let that work its way in the background of your mind.
As for the new idea be open. You know those what if scenarios, or an I wish moment you have. USE IT!!! I love to read, goes hand in hand with wanting to write. Every time I visit a bookstore or library I am overwhelmed with choices, and a part of me despairs, because I don’t know when I will ever have the time to read everything I ever wanted to read. And so I keep thinking, wouldn’t it be cool if I could just touch a book and know it down to its soul. And this idea lingers with me, and I keep thinking it every time I am at a bookstore or library, but the idea also evolves. I think what if we could plug ourselves in and know a book. That human and technology merge, and we are all cyborg enhancements. And what then are books, but a video game we plug in and experience. And what are the addiction rates, and what happened to print books, and then there is a story I simply must write and explore.
What I am trying to say is that there are lots of moments in our lives were we think I wish this was this way, or what if this. Or this moment right there, is so real and full of emotion, I want to preserve that and write that. I plaid softball about two summers ago and I am not a sport person at all, but my hubby needed more girls on their softball team, so I got dragged along. I got hit by the ball, and it hurt like… well a lot. And hubby came and stood in front of me and shielded the rest of the team from seeing my weak moment. And that turned into a story idea, a fantasy about the daughter of a chancellor joining the army after equal rights are declared, and this young man who must train her who despises this and thinks that the declaration is wrong, but comes to admire her strength and during a week moment he too shields her.
Be aware of your surroundings and let yourself wander with an idea. Day dream about story ideas the way you would daydream about a crush in high school. Flirt with it a little, and then make a date to take it out for coffee.
Good luck.
Absolutely 100% back to the drawing board for a new idea. If you aren’t excited about it, then ditch it. You may come back to it later and figure out what is wrong, or it may be an under the bed project that never sees the light of day again. You may even dissect it a little and take out the parts that work. I like this idea here, but it is not working with these characters. Or I like these characters but this idea isn’t working for them. But put it away and let that work its way in the background of your mind.
As for the new idea be open. You know those what if scenarios, or an I wish moment you have. USE IT!!! I love to read, goes hand in hand with wanting to write. Every time I visit a bookstore or library I am overwhelmed with choices, and a part of me despairs, because I don’t know when I will ever have the time to read everything I ever wanted to read. And so I keep thinking, wouldn’t it be cool if I could just touch a book and know it down to its soul. And this idea lingers with me, and I keep thinking it every time I am at a bookstore or library, but the idea also evolves. I think what if we could plug ourselves in and know a book. That human and technology merge, and we are all cyborg enhancements. And what then are books, but a video game we plug in and experience. And what are the addiction rates, and what happened to print books, and then there is a story I simply must write and explore.
What I am trying to say is that there are lots of moments in our lives were we think I wish this was this way, or what if this. Or this moment right there, is so real and full of emotion, I want to preserve that and write that. I plaid softball about two summers ago and I am not a sport person at all, but my hubby needed more girls on their softball team, so I got dragged along. I got hit by the ball, and it hurt like… well a lot. And hubby came and stood in front of me and shielded the rest of the team from seeing my weak moment. And that turned into a story idea, a fantasy about the daughter of a chancellor joining the army after equal rights are declared, and this young man who must train her who despises this and thinks that the declaration is wrong, but comes to admire her strength and during a week moment he too shields her.
Be aware of your surroundings and let yourself wander with an idea. Day dream about story ideas the way you would daydream about a crush in high school. Flirt with it a little, and then make a date to take it out for coffee.
Good luck.
Hi Jessica! My first book was exactly like that–not such an original idea, but there were elements of it I loved! But I set it aside and wrote a second book, and that was the one that got picked up by an agent and sold as my debut. Now that I have a little downtime after the release, I am looking back at that first manuscript to see if there's something missing I could bring to it to revive it. Maybe it's a lost cause and it was my "practice book," but maybe now that I've been through the publication process, I can find the new angle that will make it sing. Good luck with your novel, but if all else fails, it was not a waste of time. All writing is good practice. And I know you've been super busy, but I'm ready to do that interview whenever you are!
Ugh, I soooo feel you. I need to work on my 25 word log line desperately!
I think you should try a little bit of both. Who says you can't be hashing out new ideas while still working on your "labor of love?"
My suggestion to you is to just stop looking at your novel write now and just start writing shorter pieces. Maybe use some of your characters and take them to new places or try some new plot twists. Maybe create totally new characters and let them do whatever you want. Explore. To me, that is partially what writing is about. Sometimes, you need to step away from the bigger picture for a while.