When to Chuck it Out

I'm a Panster. And since I don't like outlining--to do so just wastes my time--the posibility that I will have to discard what I've written happens more than not on any WIP. You get so far and see where it's going and think Nah!

I was doing that in the 6th book WIP where I followed a scene till I realized I really didn't like it, or where it would wind up going. I could see I'd be following this secondary character way too much, and all I really wanted to do was to show his character since his "change".

As with any characters who have become part of Sabrina's story, I'm always trying to find some way of keeping it all fresh. Some characters who change either change for the good, or they've become evil/bad/dead. You need to kill a few of the evil ones off, but do so in a way that someone comes out the hero of the story, and the good ones, well, I need to bring them back because I think they could fulfil something in the plot that I need in a certain moment of drama--usually at the end.

So, when I got so far with this scene--which I thought was going well--I saw that it was going to involve that secondary character way too much, plus a tertiary character who was just introduced and I was beginning to not really like her, her life, and surroundings and knew I was never going to make her believable anyway...
So... delete,delete,delete.

But it's all good. If you get frustrated by the work you need to do, you need to ask yourself if you are up to the challenges of what it takes to actually make your WIP better. You may have to rip out whole chapters, and even characters from a WIP. You have to ask yourself the tough questions. I think I've been writing for so long, I know when that moment is, and without much thinking over it, I just get rid of it and start all over. They say you have to kill your darlings, and it's true. Sometimes they look somewhat like Frankenstein's monster when you're working on it. But when you get into the last drafts it should all come together as a whole and work--and no one sees the stitches!

So, I was wondering about this secondary character and how I wanted to make him different--not just another vampire--and where I wanted to go with him. It hit me this morning when I woke up. I knew what I had to do and got working on the concept. I had to do some research on Greek Mythology, and believe it or not found something that seemed as though it were made for what I needed. Since I'm so far ahead of my published work, I'm not going to say which character. I might start making people worry needlessly.

Until next time... keep on writing!

The Writing Goes on, and on, and on...

Last night, after--or maybe it was during--my little quiet time of just reading someone else's book, my writing mind went into over drive.

Okay, see, the voices never stop. Once I create the characters, they're always there. I live with them 24/7. It's like having annoying invisible friends. And since I use my house as a sort of model for where my MC lives, its also like having ghosts in my house, too. Vampires, werewolves, one leprechaun, and Sabrina who discovers she's a sibyl, and has to fight the nasty vampires, and has married one... oh, it's a big old mess. But I love the mess she's in.

So, a line--it was just one line--"I'm going to take an ear off if you don't stop moving." I wrote it out and then another line came and more and more. My characters were all here doing their thing.

It was an OMG moment. I had the first line to the sixth novel "Vampire Requiem". I'd been making notes, writing out some scenes. Thinking about it for the past month. Yep. On December 1st I had begun writing out notes on a document and have been adding to them as I had them.

This past week or so, I've gotten through both books #4 and #5. I believe #5 was done some time this month as my WIP, and finally I've gone through it once again. This one took me a number of months. I remember getting the same sort of lines and dialogue last year and had to write them down saying "No. I'm busy and can't write this right now." But the lines kept on coming. Just like they are here. The plot is evasive, but it will come. It's almost like I have to follow Sabrina around and see what's going on, moment by moment, before I see where this is going.

I'm currently awaiting a third book to be released. Actually I'm waiting for the edits to reach me. My frustration over this has gotten to me. Fans are awaiting this next book. If I don't get it out soon, eventually people won't care. Or will they?

Anyway, the next ones will not take quite this long, I'll make sure of it.