Monday, October 11, 2010

Talking crap about your WiP

We all do it, working chapter by chapter isn’t easy.

It’s a lot of work and every once in awhile you slip, say something you didn’t mean (or did mean, Shh, we won’t tell if you don’t) Those who say they don’t are LYING.

Clearly we can leave those folks in denial, but for the rest of you, hear me out.

I’m guilty.

I’ll write my first draft, walk away feeling full of life, picking dandelions in the fields (they’re sort of flowers after all) having that glass of wine to celebrate.

Then reality strikes. So many things to revise… ahem, I mean rewrite. You’re angry, it isn’t fair. No one told you that you had to first WRITE the book and then REWRITE the book and then REVISE like a GAZILLION more times.

You walk away not only feeling like DEATH but looking like it too, leaving your men and babies to feed themselves, not shaving your legs even though you know you should. You end up back in the field of flowers and rip the dandelions out of the field, they’re IMPOSTERS, not real flowers, and have a BOTTLE of wine to drown away your sorrows.

That’s when it happens.

You talk about them.

Your REAGO (see Candyland) appears: You tell all your friends your MC sucks (who could give a crap; they don’t even READ books, let alone understand how to write them).

Leaving, feeling completely defeated you go home, ignore your husband and go straight for the scent of real food (seeing as that bottle of wine sort of did you in). Grab that bowl of soup and sit at the computer.

Your TWEEGO (see Candyland) self pops up and twitter and facebook is where you drown your sorrows, #stupidnovelsucks #nomorewineinhouse hoping at least ONE person clicks LIKE just to show that you aren’t alone.

Still not satisfied with talking trash about your WiP you hit your last option.

Your BLEGO (see Candyland) self runs to blogger to leave short post:

MY MAIN CHARACTER BLOWS, THEY RUINED MY WHOLE STORY WITH THEIR DUMB PLOT IDEA.

You know your blogger buddies will share their stories and make it all better so tomorrow you are not so awful to be around.

MORAL of the story: The more you talk about your MC and your WiP, the longer you DON’T shave your legs, your MC IGNORES you, your friends and family AVOID you and your blogger community TIRES of you. Get your ASS back in that chair, grab a cookie and make it BETTER.

76 comments:

Diana Mieczan said...

hahah...Love the last part!...I bet you are doing great,sweetie
How was your weeknd?
Hugs

Christina Lee said...

"they’re IMPOSTERS, not real flowers" --> *snort*

Jennifer Shirk said...

Ha! LOVE the moral of the story!! It's funny because it's true. LOL

Vicki Rocho said...

Hey dandelions are totally flowers. I love their sunny, cheerful yellow and when you get a bunch of them together they look like velvet.

Samantha Vérant said...

Are you stalking me? how did you know I didn't shave my legs? I'm writing away eating cookie after cookie...

Talei said...

Ah, so true! *shakes finger at MC* Now, please behave because I'd like to get your story finished by the end of this month. *Sigh* If only it were that easy.

Happy rewriting Jen!! ;)

Bish Denham said...

Oh boy! I am so like going through this very thing. I am cringing at the rewrite I am about to face. Pant, pant, groan, whine, whine, whine.

Renae said...

This was great! I love the moral of the story.

Lo Hughes said...

Just what I needed to hear today!!

Taryn Kincaid said...

Word!

(Too, too right!)

Ellie Garratt said...

LOL. I needed that just before NaNoWriMo!

Joanna St. James said...

ha ha u got me right down to a T

Erinn said...

Awesome. Seriously, while you might need to vent about your characters, no one else gives a crap.

No one is going to care more about your book than you do.

Awesome post. Thanks

Christine Fonseca said...

HA! LOVE THIS!!! And yes, I guess I DO need to get my.....back in the chair!

Karen Jones Gowen said...

Omigosh it's way to early to be laughing in my chair but I can't help myself. The dandelions, the wine, the facebook like, the everything. This was F-U-N-N-Y. And it had a point too!

Beth Fred said...

I usually get madder at myself than MC. Though, I might try this next time cuz it sounds far more fun than what I do.

Hannah said...

LOL, so so true. You are hilarious. I used to "wine" a lot when I was writing until I got the advice that when I got to a particularly difficult scene or sitch, make that the fun part. So I usually make my characters do something completely ridiculous, like kick off, turn into a bat and fly away cackling like an old witch. Then after I do that I can begin to think constructively and produce something worthy of "staying alive."

So many great posts this morning. :D

Chris Phillips said...

Fun post. I need a cookie.
Fun fact: the word verification for leaving my comment is "meads."

Amie Borst said...

LOL !!

This is just what i needed today!
I've been editing FOREVER and i only have to finish 7 pages before i send to the requesting agent. But. I. Can't. Finish.

Thanks to you, I'll laugh at myself all the way through revisions!

Debbie said...

I think that moral could apply to almost any situation! Great advice.

Shannon said...

Good morale, Jen. =)

Joanne said...

Great story. We sit in that chair and keep on putting our hands to the keyboard, making things happen.

Christine said...

You put it in a nutshell for me. I am so excited to have moved on from the 4th MS and to build a new story that I'm SURE won't be nearly as painful to rewrite (hahahahaha).

Back in the chair and pass the cookies.

Jessica Bell said...

LOL how funny. I was having some WIP blues today, so thanks for the laugh!

Laura S. said...

Love the last part! (Especially the line about grabbing a cookie. Cookies make everything all better!)

This could apply to many areas of life, too. Great post, Jen!

Christine Danek said...

So true. I need to go get a cookie. :)

Shannon O'Donnell said...

Ha ha ha! I love this and I loved Candyland's post about our various "---gos"! :-)

Carolyn V. said...

Aw! I totally know how you feel. I've got a whole plate full of cookies by my lappy. =D

Southpaw said...

I’m totally getting a cookie right now.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I don't think I've ever complained about my main character to anyone.
But I do like cookies!

Lenny Lee said...

hi miss jen! yikes! watta down way to get monday started off. ugh! you got the down in the dumps writer blues for sure. i when you grab that cookie its gonna be one of your special brownies. you know. the one that makes you sparkle. :)
...hugs from lenny

Nicole Zoltack said...

LOL Loved this! Definitely the kick in the butt that I needed. I think I will have a cookie and get back to my story. :)

Meg said...

Awesome post!

Golden Eagle said...

LOL. I'm going to get that cookie and start writing now . . . you've inspired me to do it. :D

Anonymous said...

I love this post! It's so true, and all writers have thought this way at least ten times while working on a manuscript.

Lisa Galek said...

LOL - I'm about to enter rewriting hell right now and I so don't want to! "You’re angry, it isn’t fair. No one told you that you had to first WRITE the book and then REWRITE the book and then REVISE like a GAZILLION more times."

Jillian said...

Oh my get the poor girl a razor lol. You never fail to crack me up. I have a hard time believing anything you write could be less than praise worthy Jen.

LTM said...

LOL--awesomeness... so glad I'm not the only neglectarino when in writing/revising mode...

for now, I'm still in the honeymoon period (see today's post). It's typically during the query stage that I go all miserable, this is the worst thing I've ever written, etc. :D lol!

Candyland said...

HA! This is the perfect way to use REA/BL/TWEEGOS!!! Yeah, we all do it, too.

Marieke said...

Heh, ace :)

Colene Murphy said...

Bahaha! You are priceless! I need to write down that last bit and tape it to the top of my laptop screen. Actually...I will do that now. Will probably help so much and avoid all the stages of anger at my own writing.

Lindsay said...

Ha ha. Awesome. I think I'm adopting 'Get your ass back in that chair, grab a cookie and make it better.' :)

Kathryn Rose said...

I needed to read this post. My MC has been pretty manic-depressive lately, and right now, doesn't want to work with me. I GUESS I could listen to him, but I already had a plan for him... ugh...

Gotta go back now... :)

Jackee said...

Hear, hear! And the more you spend complaining, the less time you have rewriting which makes it take longer. :o) At least that's what I do... not to mention the passion I lose from discussing the MC and plot.

Good luck, Jen! Sound advice!

Tana said...

LOL! I've been known to have a love hate relationship with my MC!!!

DL Curran said...

Haha! Funny, I just reread a few pages I wrote last week and thought, 'boy my MC is some whiny here!' I must have been a wee bit sucky when I wrote that! ;) Thanks for the laugh!

Jen said...

*snort* I've totally been there. Several times. This week.

Great post!
Jen C.

Talli Roland said...

Love this, Miss Jen! So true! There's only one thing to do to fix a crap first draft... get back in the chair!

Karen Roderick said...

Ha ha ha ha! Brilliant. I think I spent the last 15 months as you describe, and now I'm not currently re-writing, I look and feel like a different woman (and my family no longer neglected!!) Bloody nightmare, but it's the price we pay for our imaginations! Hope you're well xxx

Sandy said...

Gosh, I love this post. So, so true. Really need to hear it. :)

Unknown said...

OMG. Are u stalking me and posting my life on your blog?! Man, it's good to hear others have a love/hate relationship with their story!

Stasia said...

So funny. Also humbling. Signing off internet. Reopening word file. Butt-in-seat and time to revise! Thanks for a fun post. -Stasia

Deniz Bevan said...

Woo! Now there's a motto! Only, how many cookies will it take... I'd like some chocolate chunk please :-)

Belle said...

LOL! Great post!

Angela McCallister said...

LOL, at least this is something most of us have in common! I'm usually okay until I read something really good and get in the whole "I'll never be that good" mentality. Then I get pissed and say "hell with that." Now I'm off to make it better, too. Writers are such a moody kinda people ;)

Jennie Bailey said...

That moral had me laughing - with tears! You are so right. get your ass back in that chair, grab a cookie and make it BETTER. Perfect lesson for me today!

Meredith said...

Haha, I LOVE this. I can never talk badly about my MC--I tend to blame everything on the supporting characters :) But I should definitely grab a cookie and get back to writing! Thanks for making me laugh out loud :)

Anna Banks said...

Oh SCHNAP! Busted! Except, I don't hate my MC. I'm just better than her. :)

Jemi Fraser said...

Grabbing a cookie and getting back to work! :)

Len Lambert said...

LOL. I can totally relate to the rewriting like a gazillion times. Haha! You are not alone, Jen. And yes, I am not alone either :) I love this post! :)

Private said...

Spoken like someone who knows her onions! Very good moral, I'll stick to it!

DL Hammons said...

I guess I'll be a dissenter. I've never talked crap about either of my books. Hmmmmmm...maybe thats a bad sign??

Karen Strong said...

Ha, tough love! Gotta have it. But at least you let us have a cookie!

This post is too funny! So glad I found your blog. :)

Unknown said...

*Like*

;)

Alix said...

Haha! I love this and remember it well :)

The Words Crafter said...

You have a terrific sense of humor and an equally impressive perspective. Loved this post!!!!

RaShelle Workman said...

Damn it Jen, the stories I could tell, but then . . . well, let's just say, I'm so glad I found your post darling. I need to get back to my stinking WIP!!! Thanks=D

Jai Joshi said...

There's nothing some ice cream and chocolate can't fix.

Jai

Alyssa Goodnight said...

I'm still in the carefree, pickin' daisies mode...no revisions yet. But it's just like you say it is... :)

Thanks for visiting! I loved your last Blog Fest!

Ms.Daisy said...

Jen,
I LOVE the way you express yourself - and I'm totally jealous,too! I plan to come back often and see just what you are up to. Thanks so much for your nice comments!


~Jean

Anonymous said...

Hear, hear! Back to work with me!

Alexandra said...

This sounds like it's so true of many big projects in life: bit by bit, in order.

Unfortunately, I don't do it that way. I want to, though..I'd feel so much less crazy. And zinged out!

Jessica Love said...

Thanks for following me! I love your blog! :-D

Jessica Lawlor said...

Thanks so much for the follow again :) I can't wait to check out your blog more. Adding it to my Reader now!

Unfortunately, I haven't finished a manuscript yet, so I haven't even gotten to this point yet, but I can imagine it is FRUSTRATING. Still, hopefully I can feel this way soon because it will mean a whole book was written ;)

Amy Holder said...

LOLLOLLOL! I can so relate to this post! It's so true...and I'm relieved I'm not alone in feeling this way. Now you've given me more incentive to get back to my WIP... or else my legs will never be shaved again.

Thanks for the laugh! :)

Virginia said...

Perfect timing for this post, as I just finished printing out my revised (again) manuscript about 45 minutes ago.

Here's hoping it doesn't suck.