The Agony and the Excruciation.
At least that’s what it is for me. No Ecstasy in the start of a new project for this girl (and I use that term loosely. Woman sounds weird, though, right? Just like having a “boyfriend” at 58 is really off-putting. Then again “man friend” is just plain clunky and creepy.)
Anyway always takes me a while to sink into a book. The beginning is tough and it’s slow sleddin’ for the first 150 pages. I slog and plod and rewrite and go back again. To the beginning. Or somewhere in chapter one or two. For plot errors or because I all of a sudden “know” my characters and what they would do.
Of course, some books are more easily started than others. A few, a very few, have flown together from the get-go. That’s unusual. It always takes me by surprise, even when working from a long synopsis and having a clear first scene in my head.
I guess sometimes, I’m still shaking off the last story, leaping from one set of characters with their problems to new ones. I would think this would be refreshing, but there are times when it’s just not an easy transition.
Then there’s the personal issue thing; when real life not only interferes, but puts a halt do the whole process. When emotional issues in real life are stronger than those in the book, I find writing nearly impossible. I can do other things: interviews, on-line promotion, cleaning the garage . . . just not write.
Fortunately, for me, once I do wade deep into the waters of a book, I can finally submerge. Then my “real” life goes all to hell until I’m finished and start the whole process again.
So, today, I swear, I’m going in knee deep and hope the current will sweep me away. That’s the “Ecstasy” part. Fingers crossed!
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Ahhh… maybe that’s why I always seem to start my stories a scene too early. I go back and cut this scene later. It is a wasted scene. I never knew before why I wrote it.
Maybe it is my way of wading into the story.
I know I’m going to cut the early chapters. I regard that as ‘revving the writing engine’. It’s also important because I’m getting to know my characters.
Heck, I even have a brief opening scene I’ve used and discarded with at least three manuscripts. It’s just a way of defeating the blank screen.
And since I know it’s all going to get cut or sliced and diced and trickled in later, I don’t worry that it has to be perfect.
Sounds like lots of us are are the same page, I mean wrong page. I usually cut a lot of the beginning stuff out too. I love writing the start of a book but it is the slowest part. It’s always easier when it’s done to go back and fix it.
Oh, I know that stage all too well!
I often wonder how some writers like writing the short books so much–they have to tackle that first stage all over again more often than the long book writers do. As for novella and short story writers…masochists!!
I love starting a new book… it’s like the first phase of a love affair, when you’re giddy and everything is sparkly and new and fun!
I usually hit a difficult spot about two-thirds of the way through.
I’ve been in the *agony* of finishing up a project, for so long, that I’m longing to start on the new one (which is sitting in my brain… waiting waiting.)
Over here in Iraq, there are days when I just can’t find the time to sit down and write. But often I find when I am that busy, when I do finally sit, I get some serious mileage. That being said, I have a similar process. I usually crank out the first 30K words then come to a screeching halt. I go back and rework those first words and then hit another streak that pushes me through the second third of the book. But as I near the end, usually, I’m struggling word by word to finish. Finally, I’ll break out of the slump and crank out the end. But it’s painful. Then I let the little sucker sit. i don’t reread. Learning to let it sit was the hardest thing I think I had to learn but I get the most mileage out of it, too.
Oh and as far as life getting in the way, often I find the high drama in my life is just the right spark to put some serious words on page. I take my own emotion and pour it into my characters. Often, those pages end up with major revisions but it’s therapeutic to get it all out.
Great post!