Meet The Important Ones!

Meet The Important Ones!

Listen Said My WIP


I have had writer's slump (my own terminology), I ran away from my wip. I needn't have worried, it found me and told me to face up to it, not to fear it. I must write it and finish, it is my promise to myself and I will let ME down if I don't.
I listened to my wip, twitter away, I baked pies, cleaned the house and still it twittered on the table in its blue tray. I scrubbed the yard, walked the dogs, made Christmas cards and generally avoided writing. Relentlessly my wip argued with me, I was wrong and it was right. It is worth writing, it is a gift to myself, it is alive and kicking. I have no right to bring it to life, tell the world it is going to become something and then to neglect it. I have a duty to my creation, blah, blah, blah it went on, I still ignored it. I had nothing to offer it, no new characters were needed, the storyline was complete and the ending had been written before the book had been started. There was nothing more to give, the thing was dying and I was allowing it to happen.
Monday morning I finished my daily chores and decided to dust the blue tray. Page by page I read the ms, slowly the air circulated around the pages and new life breathed back into it. A weak character had been the problem, he had a strong background but a weak write up. Pen in hand I recreated him, gave him a different job and BINGO, my wip approved. It brushed itself down, patted me on the back and accepted my apology of neglecting it for so long.
Never being one to sulk, it accepted the apology and move forward. Dancing from scene to scene it reformed the new character, jiggled a sentence or two and fell in love with me again. It didn't want to leave my side, it still doesn't, we are happy again, our relationship is still as strong and I am hoping it will remain so for a lifetime. I have promised to find a dust jacket for wip one day, so I will have to fulfill that promise.

10 Comments:

Margot Kinberg said...

Glynis - What a fascinating post on letting the characters in a WIP "speak" to you, and on going back and finding what's needed to fix a manuscript. Good for you to you let it rest for a few days, and then go back and reread. Interesting, isn't it, how if we let our stories "rest" sometimes, when we come back to them, we can figure out what's needed and make the story better.

MeganRebekah said...

What a great post!
I "run" away from my novel frequently. Somehow it always finds me and drags me back to the computer.

Susan R. Mills said...

Good for you. I love it when that happens. Not the writing slump, but when you get over it.

Glynis said...

Thanks for stopping by and commenting. It is good to be in control again.

Elizabeth Bradley said...

Sometimes we need to separate ourselves from our work to gain perspective. Glad you're back in the saddle!

Jen Chandler said...

Your new blog design is wonderful! I love it :)

Glad to know I'm not the only one who has wips that follow them around, telling them all the reasons why they should be writing. I want to be left alone!!! But the work knows best and all we can do is show up and let the work have its way.

Jen

cassandrajade said...

I'm glad I read this. I frequently have arguments with my WIP but I can never really stay away from them for that long. They kind of worm their way into the bak of my mind regardless of what I do. Thanks for sharing this.

Carol @ TheWritersPorch said...

Love it! :)

lizzie said...

Glad you are friends with your novel again! I love the redesign.

Glynis said...

Thanks for taking time for me and commenting.