A frustrating week of writing
I just had a very frustrating week of writing.
In fact, much of it has been devoted to non writing activities. First, I’ve had a series of meetings to attend and these always cut into my writing time.
Second, I’ve been busy tidying up the mess in our driveway. We had a massive storm here just over a week ago and a large 40 year old gum tree came down in our driveway. I’ve been busy chain sawing up the wood. I guess we’ll have plenty of firewood in the coming few years.
Third, I was discouraged by my critiquing group at a seminar last week and have hit a brick wall as a result. I was very excited about rewriting my novel in the first person. It seemed to be going so well, yet everyone was so critical and told me that it just wasn’t working.
Ouch.
Discouragement hit me big time. I’ve done no more on it for the last week. I sometimes feel like giving up.
Can any of my readers offer me any encouragement, or clues on how to get going again?
In the meantime – a few photos of the mess in my driveway.
Fallen tree in our driveway
Fallen tree in our driveway
Ouch! That is a mess. I’ve been struggling with trying to keep mould under control. Smaller scale, but still a pain in the neck.
Of course you feel like giving up. If writing well were easy, everybody would be doing it!
Now, did your critiquing group suggest why first person VP wasn’t working for them? Did they think that the VP character wasn’t the right narrator? Was it a diction problem? I hope they provided something constructive.
Don’t make me come all the way down there to sort them out!
All of the above.
The reality is this: few of them have any track record in publishing. I’ve probably had more published than all of them combined – except my supervising lecturer who just launched her 16th book – and who agreed with me and what I was doing. So guess which way I’ll be going?
Never mind – I’ll get over it in a few days. In the meantime, I’ll take it out on that tree – and dream of all those frosty nights in front of the fire with a good book or two and a nice glass or two of the finest.
Hi Trevor,
I tracked you down on Google after some encouragement to do so last week (by mother’s who’s names shall remain unmentioned), I hope that’s ok. I just wanted to encourage you! First person is a fabulous way to write a novel, particularly for younger readers, and the best thing about is it’s engaging active voice! When I changed my manuscript from 3rd to 1st, I simply had to put it down and start writing from scratch (same plot, same scenes, but written with no looking at the old stuff). It may actually be quicker than attempting to change the words already written on the page! I would suggest taking a scene that excites or moves you in some way and just starting with a blank page, write it in 1st person and see where it takes you! What I’ve read of your writing is inspiring in it’s imagery.
Thanks Sif,
Your words are certainly encouraging, so thanks for tracking me down. Rosanne and Claire have also been very encouraging in their comments since I wrote the above article. I will press on.
[…] Two weeks ago we had a near disaster in our garden. We had a very large 15 metre gum tree come down in our driveway in a violent storm. You can see pictures of some of it on my writing site here. […]
I hope you can get that story going again. I find that the longer a break I take in writing a particular story/book, the harder it is to get going again. I have also rewritten a middle grade reader from 3rd person into 1st person, and I feel it is much stronger in first person, that the voice is much clearer and more natural.
I am fortunate to have a very supportive critique group. Two are published authors, and the others are also strong writers and perceptive readers. I feel truly blessed to have this group. A good critique group can be hard to find.
I wish you success in your project. Don’t give up!