One thing that really helped was that I sat down and re-evaluated my characters. I'm a major plotter, but I don't think I'd had given my characters enough say in what would happen to them. I typed out a list of the following for my hero and heroine and found some things I'd believed about them needed to change:
External Goal
Internal / Emotional Goal
Lie he/she believes
Emotional Strength
How all these things would affect his/her relationships (including the romantic relationship in the story)
Something about typing all of this information out helped me see the weaknesses in my story. Hopefully, I can keep the momentum going.
I also think it helped that I bought myself a new package of Pilot G-2 07 pens :) Whatever works, right?
How about you? Do you ever have to stop in the middle of the project and re-evaluate everything? Do you have a favorite pen?
Oh oh yes, I've definitely stopped in the middle of a project to evaluate--did that over and over with my second book actually. What finally helped me break through was telling myself the story out loud (at the advice of Susan May Warren). She told me to just sit down, get comfortable, and tell the story out loud...and it worked. I re-fell in love with the story.
ReplyDeleteAs for favorite pens, oh yes: I'm all about Pilot Precise V5s extra fine. :)
Great advice!
DeleteYes, sometimes you have to re-evaluate to get back on track. I'm totally with you there. And recently I got a pink pen from a friend. Um, I love pink and the pen writes wonderfully. It's fate. Haha.
ReplyDeleteEditing with a pink pen sounds so much better than a red pen. No more "bleeding" all over your manuscript. :)
DeleteI love my red editing pen!!! Evaluation is not my strong point. I find it very hard to sit and analyze things like that, but I do go strongly on feelings as I read, so hopefully that helps. lol
ReplyDeleteI'm super analytical. I don't know how such a nuts and bolts kind of person came to write romance novels. I wish I wrote more on emotion, but it's more of a mental exercise for me. Weird - I know! :)
DeleteI get to that dreaded sagging middle of a story and start wondering whether I need to delete the whole manuscript from my laptop. I usually calm down after a few days, but I sure do hate those moments. The bullet point you listed will no doubt help me evaluate where my WIP is headed.
ReplyDeleteAs for a favorite pen, I like the Dr. Grip model.
Mine lasted a few months this time. Hopefully, I'll figure it out sooner next time. :/
DeleteYay, Julie! So glad you've broken through the road block!
ReplyDeleteI'm doing a bit of re-evaluating right now, too! My latest wip has been more of a seat of the pants story, so of course I need to stop and figure out where it's going! LOL.
Happy writing!!
Thanks, Susan. It's always great to have a wonderful critique partner to help me through the process. :)
DeleteI'm definitely a mid-evaluater! Sometimes I need to bounce the story along to a friend for feedback just to make sure it's working.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a favorite pen. I should probably have one huh? Well wait, I like gel pens. Black.