Setting aside the WIP

-

Rare are the times I begin writing a book, then close up the document, not proffering a satisfying conclusion. But last night after going to bed, I realized that I needed to take a break from A Rose Blissful, from National Novel Writing Month, from something that most times brings me great pleasure but over the last couple of weeks has felt like a.... Not a burden or a big fat drag, yet not an activity enticing or soul- soothing. Yes I'm disappointed, I don't like leaving things unfinished. But better to walk away now than kick myself later for not following my heart.

I honesty don't know what will happen to this story; a dear friend is reading the six chapters I have managed, and depending on her assessment, I will choose either to file it under unfinished manuscripts or.... I will give myself this break, then see what happens in December. I have two other novels requiring revising, one of which will be released next month and needs to be formatted.  Edits and formatting is about all my brain can handle right now, and recognizing that and not trying to push through a new idea is what Present Me calls being smart. Past Me might scoff, but I hope Future Me can somehow flick Past Me on the ear in a cool your jets honey kind of way.

I wanted NANOWRIMO to give me the kick in the butt I felt I needed to get a new novel underway. But for whatever reason, I don't feel as connected to it as in years past. Is it my age, the age of Discord, or just some random bunch of reasons that can't be property cataloged. Again I truly don't know, but it is what it is and sometimes this happens. Not often, but occasionally great ideas founder when put into practice. Like I said above, it's disappointing, but not the end of the world.

Yet, I didn't want to gloss over that sometimes writing fails. Sometimes all the character sketches and timelines and marvelous brainstorms fizzle out. 5K, 10K, or the 20K that I've accumulated gets shoved in a folder, saved on a flash drive, tucked away because files take little space and maybe one day.... Maybe I'll finish that book. And maybe one I might. But if I don't, that's okay too. For even the incomplete books have purpose; I wrote six chapters. A lot of dialogue. Some great sentences. A few clever jokes. All of this enhances my skills, even if I didn't get to The End.

Popular posts from this blog

Fits, starts, and restarts

-
Image
Two examples from two different skeins of yarn where breaks in the colour scheme occur. Very indicative of my current mood, lol. This is a funny novel, for all the hemming and hawing going on. Never before have I written, then purged scenes with somewhat of an abandon. I truly don't know what to make of it, chalking it up to age, grieving, the weirdly long winter (even though it's spring), or my new computer keyboard, which is small but adequate in a strangely truncated manner. I'm enjoying the writing, but the story keeps veering off on tangents I'm not comfortable with, in that too much is being revealed too soon, bleh. Future and Past Me's are steering clear of this manuscript, perhaps because what came before it was so out of the blue, so cathartic, and this prequel is just as outta my backside as any I've ever written. But I am writing, let me restate that, despite restarting a chapter here and there. I'm not getting much else accomplished, other than s
Read more

Orphan blocks are not like unfinished novels

-
Image
It's a busy day, getting ready for guests that will enlighten our lives for the next week. However my feet are a little weary, so why not ramble here for a bit, giving those dogs a rest as well as set upon a discourse about the above title before I forget why I thought it was important (lol). I don't even know why I first pondered this, maybe an IG poster mentioned them, which made me think of my orphan EPP blocks. I don't have many machine sewn blocks without a home, but plenty of English paper pieced designs linger in a tote, patterns I liked and HAD TO MAKE. I used plenty of them on a Turning Twenty quilt, decorating some plain tone-on-tone prints and that was a great manner in which to employ less than a quarter of what remains, ahem. Oh and I used some on a t-shirt quilt that I made in conjunction with a friend, who had lived in Hawaii for a few years and wanted to put her aged shirts to quilty use. But still many remain, although I have a plan for them, hehehe. I am h
Read more

Following one's heart

-
Image
Fascinating from the back, as though a map to an unknown destination. It was an early start today, half a chapter written, then texting with my youngest daughter and enjoying photos of her sunrise a few hours east of us. I woke to clear, starry skies, but clouds have since moved in, rain forecast for the next few days. Maybe in a few days I'll have completed my novel; it's VERY CLOSE to being done, but I said that in a recent post, The End dangling like a carrot merely an arm's length away. Meanwhile I've been stitching together Cornflower blocks each evening. The photo above was snapped last night, what I see as I sew. MANY papers to remove, but I'll deal with that later, lol. I'm also working on another quilt, hehehe, more about that in a day or two. And the last ones for this year are washed and waiting to be given to my granddaughters on Christmas, which is just a little over a week away! I considered today's title right after reading through the sevente
Read more