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September 22 When to kill your babies???I've always had trouble bringing my stories to a satisfactory conclusion. In fact there have
been many that I've flat out abandoned because I had no idea which direction I wanted to take
them; and when I'm in a cycle of writing steadily, I find it enormously difficult to stare at a
blank screen for more than a week. I'd much rather go to work on something else. Not because the
idea of it appeals to me more than what I'm currently working on, but because the thought of
becoming unnecessarily stagnate is horrifying to me.
Take for instance the fact that I am now working on the third draft of a novel I've been trying
to finish for four years. I realize there may be many of you out there thinking that is an
incredibly long time for a novel, but it really isn't. In fact, some novelists go through
a dozen or more drafts, and may spend even longer on their novel.
The thing is that it isn't as if we are working on one novel nonstop. There are
always other stories to be written, and other writing related tasks to be accomplished. And
despite the fact that our chosen path puts us being alone the majority of the time, most of us
actually don't like to be alone. So we also make time for friends and family. Not to mention
unwisely spending time delving into those alluring entertainment vices.
I always feel bad when I don't finish one of my stories, but there has always been that instinct
that it was unfinished for a reason: Like maybe my subconscious wasn't through with it yet. So
I've continually thought, 'Well I'll get back to it one day. I will complete it. It's just not
done yet.'
That's fine to say, but the reality is it's not always going to be the case. There are some
stories that should be abandoned. But knowing when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em is a skill
that takes time to develop.
I'm not certain I'm there yet, but one thing I do know is that this is the final total rewrite
of the novel I'm currently working on. If I can't bring it to a satisfactory conclusion, it'll
likely never be finished.
It's a tough decision to make when you've invested so much time in something. But most every
writer has a few drawer novels: Unfinished or unpublishable.
I think it's probably best to place an expiration date on a work, from the moment of conception.
Not a deadline of when you plan to be finished with it, although you ought to do that too, I
mean the absolute last day you'll consider a story viable. Now I'm not talking about slight
revisions/edits, but rather entire rewrites. Since it's a rather slow process for me, most
of my expirations are necessarily years out. But you may be more prolific, able to churn 'em out
fast and furious, and if that's the case then you'll want to shoot for something much shorter.
When said expiration date rolls around you should put the novel away. Stow it in a drawer, or a
file cabinet and do not waste any more of your time submitting it. Especially if it's made the
rounds many times over, and has yet to garner a comment. There is something wrong with it and
it's likely you're too biased to see it.
All this is a part of the process; like crawling before you walk. Consider those drawer novels
asyour baby steps. So you stumbled a bit, didn't make it very far before falling flat on your
ass,the important thing is that you get back up again. Dust yourself off and set out in a new
direction. You can't let those unseen hinderances keep you from moving forward. And that's just
what these, made for dust catching manuscripts, will do. They are perfectly content to stunt
your growth, and derive pleasure from watching you struggle periously to distance yourself from
the black hole that is their heart and soul.
I can almost hear you now, 'but this story IS my heart and soul.' No it's not. How can you know
that? There is so much left unwritten. Your best work could be the very next novel or it could
be twenty novels from now. Our time here is so limited, and as a writer you have to do your best
to take full advantage of it. And if you spend all your creative time whiling away at one
project many novels/stories/articles will be left unwritten. All because you chose to use your
tiny pail to scoop buckets of water out of a sinking Battleship. Some of these works are like
the Titanic, no matter how sincerely devoted you are to trying to save them, the beloved vessel
is still gonna go down.
So... will you, as the Captain of the ship, your novel, and your destiny, choose to go down with
it?
Or will you seek out the lifeboat and live to write another day?
You have to ask yourself if it's worth it to stay aboard. And if you feel it is then you're a
less selfish writer than I. 'Cause I want to do everything within my power to succeed, and
somehow I just don't think going down with the ship will lead me there.
From now on I have four years to write, rewrite, and make the multitudinous submissions of a novel; and barring the unlikely revison suggestion from an editor they'll go in a drawer and
I'll go to work on the next one. Of course there'll be other novels during those four years, but
the main focus in submission will be the one you've revised most.
The thing to remember is that in our business it's highly unlikely that you'll sell your first
novel. Which isn't to say that it doesn't happen. But it is the exception rather than the rule.
It's likely you've heard the phrase kill your darlings before, and mostly it's in reference to
charcters you refuse to get rid of. Characters that are dragging your story down. Or scenes that
don't fit properly into the scheme of things.
Well, those stories that you can't let go of are also your darlings, and you have to be willing
to kill them if you're going to survive. Don't let their cancerous cells be the last anyone
hears from you.
Go out on top... leave people talking about how many great works you wrote in your (likely)
short but full life. Or would you rather they say: Man he/she had such potential... IF
ONLY he/she hadn't spent their entire life working on that crappy story.
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