Want to avoid seeing this sign in your writing career? I sure know I do.Writer Wednesdays are all about the tips, tricks and good advice to help the YA writer succeed. Well, I've been struggling lately. I started RESONANCE, and the story shot out the gate with a bang, kicking up dust and wowing me. Test readers and my agent loved it, too. My agent liked it so well, she decided to start pitching it to editors as a proposal. *_* (gasp and squee at the same time)
So, I set the story aside, roughed up an outline, and turned the outline into a formal synopsis. Then I struggled to find comparable titles. (the premise is pretty unique) I combed Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Schulers... I couldn't find an apples to apples comparison, so I had to break it down to using comparable heroines, plot elements, etc. (Thanks to Georgia McBride for that suggestion!) Then I needed the publishers of those titles, et al. Has anyone out there written a proposal for a fiction book? Yeah. LOTS goes into one.
I was so busy with everything around the story I lost touch with the story. And that sucked.
I'd gotten caught up in searching comparable titles, and being on the Interwebs all day.
I'd gotten caught up in talking to writer friends online about the book, etc.
I'd gotten caught up in being caught up.
I'd allowed myself to get wrapped up, tied into, and strangled by the Internet.
What to do? Well, it took me getting DISCONNECTED FROM THE INTERNET, to reconnect with my story.
Tuesday, I forswore time on the Web until the writing juice ran out. Y'know what happened? The earth moved, the clouds opened and angels sang arias. Kidding! What did happen was the damn broke, I wrote one kickass first kiss scene and completely reconnected with my characters and what they were tied up in. I had 2,500 new words by 3:30.So, I challenge you. Go acoustic. Get unplugged. See how much you get done. Try it for a couple hours and come back and tell me how you did! If you have other tips to reconnect with your stories, share them, too.
I have the internet upstairs only, so I do some internet in the morning when it's cool and leave the AC off. Then it gets so hot up there I can only check emails and do other things real quick for the rest of the day. Meanwhile, my no-internet laptop is downstairs running whenever I have a spare moment or two.
ReplyDeleteIt's working for me, at least.
there's no much that will kill my precious writing time faster than getting lost on the internet. those darn blogs! LOL. I plan to unhook tonight though - I'll let you know how it goes.
ReplyDelete