Cam-ael from Celestial Sin
How do you write? Do you write start to finish or in scenes as they come to you? Do you write along confidently, knowing that you’ve got it right, or doubt that anyone will ever want to read each word?
When I started writing, I wrote in scenes and tied them together. I started my current WIP several years ago. It is written in scenes. I am now putting them together. One problem with this seems to be that I use too much narrative, probably telling the story to myself. But I am enjoying this process as it’s different that sitting down and writing a novel start to finish.
To answer my own question about writing confidently, I either zip along or plough along, but I always wonder if it’s good enough. I don’t have a full-time critique partner to ask. I swelter in doubt hell or ask another writer friend to confirm that the work isn’t as worthless as I sometimes think it when I switch on my computer.
I felt this way when I was writing Celestial Sin, the story of an angel who falls to Earth and falls in love, but I must have been wrong because it will be released May 20th by The Wild Rose Press. Buy link. Join me here at the Pink Fuzzies on May 20th for the Release Day Party—prizes involved! Also, visit Musings...Bianca Swan for a free erotic read and to see the cool trailer for Celestial Sin
Are submissions a scary business? While exciting, there is also the spectre of rejection lurking in the act. I’m trying to gear up to submit an urban fantasy with romantic elements to Samhain. Every night, I delay another day. But this Saturday, I vow, I am going to hit that send button.
Do you have any writing fears?
When I started writing, I wrote in scenes and tied them together. I started my current WIP several years ago. It is written in scenes. I am now putting them together. One problem with this seems to be that I use too much narrative, probably telling the story to myself. But I am enjoying this process as it’s different that sitting down and writing a novel start to finish.
To answer my own question about writing confidently, I either zip along or plough along, but I always wonder if it’s good enough. I don’t have a full-time critique partner to ask. I swelter in doubt hell or ask another writer friend to confirm that the work isn’t as worthless as I sometimes think it when I switch on my computer.
I felt this way when I was writing Celestial Sin, the story of an angel who falls to Earth and falls in love, but I must have been wrong because it will be released May 20th by The Wild Rose Press. Buy link. Join me here at the Pink Fuzzies on May 20th for the Release Day Party—prizes involved! Also, visit Musings...Bianca Swan for a free erotic read and to see the cool trailer for Celestial Sin
Are submissions a scary business? While exciting, there is also the spectre of rejection lurking in the act. I’m trying to gear up to submit an urban fantasy with romantic elements to Samhain. Every night, I delay another day. But this Saturday, I vow, I am going to hit that send button.
Do you have any writing fears?
Yep, I have my own set of fears. Will anyone else really like my writing? Will I be able to write this big, different book?
I tend to jump in and let characters tell their stories. I often start with "
What if a man or woman did... was in this situation...? The man or woman become a character and the game is on... or NOT.
MM, you and I write a lot alike then. I usually start with one character who tells the story then introduces his supporting cast.
I've been trying to learn to plot by motivation. Otherwise I make a lot of false starts before I figure out who my characters are and what they really want.
I live in fear. It goes with the territory. I just finished the second set of revisions requested by an editor. I'm shaking in my boots as I contemplate sending it back to her. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. So as soon as MM finishes a quick read through, I'll send it on its way back to the editor.
I find it reassuring to know that other writers, especially two as accomplished as MM and Nightingale have their fears. Makes me not feel quite so much like the cowardly lion.
Yes! Even after I've written what I think of as a good scene, I will go back over it a couple of times to see if it "pops" and that's before I have someone else look at it. And even when they say it's fine, when I look at it later, I see ways in which it can improve!!! I guess I will always wonder if it's good enough....
MM,
I have the same fears as you---will someone actually like what I wrote?
And Barbara, plotting remains such an issue for me. I love to write--but to plot? Ugh!
It's nice to know some really great writers share my fears. Barbara, since I let the characters tell me the story, I typically throw away lot of "getting to know them." Plotting isn't my strong point either.
The beginning is what usually worries me. I rewrite the first page twenty times at least for each book. I'm never sure it will be a good hook.
Where my writing is concerned, fear is my middle name. I spend so much time rewriting paragraphs because I'm afraid they aren't right. Hours sometimes. I can't seem to get rid of the notion that I'll know instinctively when something is right. And most of the time I feel that what I've written isn't good enough. Is this pure nonsense?