I opened up a document on my Kindle this past Friday night. I finished reading it Saturday morning.
I attempted to turn the page on my Kindle, enraged when I couldn't. How could this author leave me wanting so, so much more? How could she do that to me???
I turned to my husband, my mouth open in awe and my eyes wide, and said, "I can't believe I wrote this."
Yes, that jerk author who left me hanging? That was me. This is one of my old, forgotten WIPs.
I finished the reread IN SHOCK. I couldn't believe that *I* had written this partial manuscript. I couldn't believe that *I* had THIS story inside of me all this time.
And I couldn't believe I'd set it aside! What was I thinking!?
I began working on this unfinished WIP again Saturday afternoon, after a year of neglect. Safely tucked away in a folder on the flash drive, this manuscript has been far from my mind. Gone, but not forgotten, but also not acknowledged. (Unless you count my CP Tamara's constant nagging to get back to this WIP. Clearly, this one will be dedicated to her and her unwavering support.)
Since Saturday afternoon, with no writing at all on Sunday, this WIP has gone from 18K words to 32K words.
I've almost DOUBLED this manuscript's length in a matter of days, and I continue to be amazed at the writing I'm putting down on the page.
MY POINT, is not to brag about how awesome this WIP is (though it is! lol!) . . . my point is that SOMETIMES, things get set aside for a reason. Even important things that we care greatly for. As I work on this manuscript, falling in love with the story and the characters with every click of my keyboard, I realize that this is the time I was meant to write this story. Not a year ago. Not two years from today.
NOW.
Had I forced this story out a year ago, it may not be what its becoming right now, because I didn't have the passion for it that I do today.
Do you have a manuscript you've neglected? Maybe you became sidetracked with another story idea, or maybe your road to publication swallowed up all your time . . . maybe life has been chaotic, and you're struggling with work or school, or parenthood . . . or juggling all of these things as many of us are.
Hang in there. These things happen for a reason. We just have to have a little FAITH.
I recently found myself thinking about some characters I haven't worked with in a good 20 years, since I was a preteen. I feel called to resurrect them and write their stories in a way I couldn't have when I was so young. I'm very excited by this, since these characters live in the 18th and 19th centuries, and I've written exclusively 20th century historical for about 20 years now.
ReplyDeleteThey'll have to wait in line, as there are a number of other books and editing jobs ahead of them, but I'm really looking forward to doing some heavy historical research and breathing new life into them. One of the two 19th century stories was last told in diary format, and that'll be my first time in a good many years I'll have touched first-person. Hopefully I still remember how to write an entire story in first-person, beyond just a letter, essay, or journal entry within a larger third-person book.