::Writing:: The stories that just don’t make the cut …
We as authors are rejected for many reasons … writing skill, storyline … what have you. Then we get mad or irritated that someone doesn’t love our story as much as we love it.
Well … shouldn’t our muses get mad at us for ditching them? What I mean is, I have a stack of stories that went nowhere despite my intention to write them. They just kinda … died. Some died a slow painful death and others a very quick one.
What makes one story better than another to us? The same applies 1000x over to agents and editors and publishers. They get all the stories that did make our cut … and many which probably should have been cut.
For me … I have the stories below … that I will likely (I say likely, though one never knows….) never pick back up again. Why? Because after getting started, I just found they didn’t suit me. Yes, in fact, it wasn’t the right story for me — the same words I’ve gotten many times from agents in the querying process. 🙂
o Two for Tuesday — stopped at 51,948 words and trunked (aka never to be revisited)
o Grace’s Gift — stopped at 2,430 words (turned into Little White Lies) 🙂
o Over My Shoulder — stopped at 7,198 words (YA story, but I won’t start as Emi J. Gayle)
o Late Bloomers — stopped at 33,792 words (my 2nd foray into vamps/weres and probably will never touch again)
o Good Luck Charm — stopped at 18,195 words (may revisit — got side tracked with Do Over as I was writing this one)
What does this mean? Where am I going with this?
What if I’d pushed through all those crap-stories and submitted them? I, at least, see why the slush pile on agent’s desks are so high. Even we authors/writers/whatever-we-ares reject our own stories … sometimes.
To spin this to the positive … none of this was wasted time. It was learning time. Time for me to figure out how I like to write, what makes my writing style unique to me … to test out ideas and to practice, practice, practice.
So those stories will forever be a part of my head. The time I gave them helped me grow and for that alone, I’m glad I wrote them.
What have you cut from your list? Do you regret it? Did you sub them out and wish you hadn’t?
I have started stuff, and then got sidetracked, but I never say never. My very first novel, which has undergone a rewrite since and is much stronger than the original, is undoubtedly my weakest piece. Will I ditch it? ::shrug:: Haven’t yet decided. Anything since then I have every intention of writing, rewriting, continuing with. I have two short stories I started, both of them spin-offs/backstory for characters in my first three novels. The forst one has a strong opening but will be difficult to write because of its content. The second I’ve received some feedback on which leads me to believe I may have got the pov wrong for it and so I’m considering telling it from anothers perspective. I have another–a novella–which has the opening pages set up. Another novel with the first six chapters written. another novella with the opening pages sat waiting for attention. Sometimes it helps me to write the openers, introduce myself to the character/s, then allow myself time to muse over them and where I want them to go. So … in answer to your question? Out of all my writing, I have maybe one novel out of 5 complete ones which may not see the light of day because I don’t feel it’s up to the standard I now expect from myself 🙂
Knowing ones ‘methods’ I think is as good a feature as any. 🙂 So you start for that purpose and keep going. I start for the purpose of finishing and then quit. 🙂 LOL Keep setting that bar higher no matter what! 🙂