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Paula thinks writing is
sometimes like riding a yo-yo.
During the last few weeks
I’ve been up and down with my current WIP. Riding high when a scene goes well,
dropping down when I get stuck on a scene or conversation – and frequently
getting hopelessly tied up in the string when the story plot became tangled.
As a child, I used to
practise for hours with a yoyo, and became very frustrated when I couldn’t get
the thing to wind back up the string after I’d thrown it. I felt the same kind
of frustration last week when I couldn’t get the first chapter of my WIP right,
even after several attempts. I felt I was dangling helplessly on the end of the
string. With 12 chapters of the story already written, I was in a situation
that I’d never experienced before i.e. not knowing the right point at which to
actually start the story.
So I put the yo-yo away for a
couple of days while I thought about it. However, the more I thought, the more
tangled the string became, so in the end I metaphorically cut the string,
threaded a new length of string onto the yo-yo, and started my first chapter
yet again.
Success! So far I’ve managed
to keep the yo-yo spinning – until the next time it gets stuck again!
I'm that way when I reread my manuscript--I either love or hate what I've written and go back and forth many times. All part of writing, I believe!
ReplyDeleteI don't mind it so much once I've completed the first draft, but I get frustrated when I can't make the first draft work!
DeleteTerrific analogy. Unfortunately, I seem to find myself on the dangling end far too often.
ReplyDeleteSame here, Debra. Last week I kept swinging one way and then the other, and getting nowhere for what seemed like ages!
DeleteI just proofed my WIP's first chapters to enter a contest. I discovered I had a consistent and genre-appropriate voice. I labor over chapters individually. To see the first five hang together was thrilling.
ReplyDeleteSo the yo-yo can rise back up the string!
Great news that your yo-yo is rising high! I'm intrigued about your comment about your voice though - I don't have a clue what mine is, let alone whether it is consistent or genre-appropriate!
Delete