Yes it's an e-version. To be honest, I really like the story but it is jarring to suddenly be reading a sentence that cuts off and another paragraph begins. I don't normally write reviews but I'll be leaving one on this book because it seems like a formatting error.
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Random thoughts
- Thread starter SeverinR
- Start date
Dragon of the Aerie:
I can identify with your problem. This happened to me some time ago, while I was working on my story Whispers of the Witch for my own Halloween Challenge. At certain point I began to lose connection with the story and the characters, and as a result of that it was really difficult to complete that story even though it's not actually complex or long.
This happened to me because I never had a real and strong connection to Whispers to start with. It was a project for a Challenge and so it was supposed to follow certain ingredients, so I went pretty blindly into the story (what I call a Let's see What happens approach) and soon I was out of sparks to keep working on it.
What did I do?
I decided that it was not the right moment to keep working on that story, and so I dedicated my efforts to a different story which had me pretty fired up back then. I finished that one easily, and then it was time to return to Whispers of the Witch and find a way to negotiate and dance with it at last.
Guess what?
When the right time came, Whispers began to throw great sparks and soon everything was clicking into place. I began to really enjoy the story, it was finished alright (Whispers of the Witch is the sequel to Violet Riding Hood) and since then those characters keep calling me to eventually work on the third and final story of a trilogy.
My advice to you (which I give because I think that we work in similar ways) is to just leave a story aside for some time in case that you do not have enough connection to it.
You never know when the right moment will come, or when you are going to get a sudden Spark for that story... Trying to force it will only give you bad results, so just wait. Meanwhile, you can work on some other stories that you feel more connected to. Also try to get more insight and more feelings related to the story that is failing you.
Never start working on a story if you do not have a clear connection to it. It's not something that will always ruin everything, but you can be sure that a lack of connection from the start will make the work much harder.
Good luck!
I can identify with your problem. This happened to me some time ago, while I was working on my story Whispers of the Witch for my own Halloween Challenge. At certain point I began to lose connection with the story and the characters, and as a result of that it was really difficult to complete that story even though it's not actually complex or long.
This happened to me because I never had a real and strong connection to Whispers to start with. It was a project for a Challenge and so it was supposed to follow certain ingredients, so I went pretty blindly into the story (what I call a Let's see What happens approach) and soon I was out of sparks to keep working on it.
What did I do?
I decided that it was not the right moment to keep working on that story, and so I dedicated my efforts to a different story which had me pretty fired up back then. I finished that one easily, and then it was time to return to Whispers of the Witch and find a way to negotiate and dance with it at last.
Guess what?
When the right time came, Whispers began to throw great sparks and soon everything was clicking into place. I began to really enjoy the story, it was finished alright (Whispers of the Witch is the sequel to Violet Riding Hood) and since then those characters keep calling me to eventually work on the third and final story of a trilogy.
My advice to you (which I give because I think that we work in similar ways) is to just leave a story aside for some time in case that you do not have enough connection to it.
You never know when the right moment will come, or when you are going to get a sudden Spark for that story... Trying to force it will only give you bad results, so just wait. Meanwhile, you can work on some other stories that you feel more connected to. Also try to get more insight and more feelings related to the story that is failing you.
Never start working on a story if you do not have a clear connection to it. It's not something that will always ruin everything, but you can be sure that a lack of connection from the start will make the work much harder.
Good luck!
DragonOfTheAerie
Istari
Hiya, Sheilawisz! Long time no see
I do agree that it doesn't work to force it. Thing is, I am writing this story mainly to take a break from my other story which I was also failing to connect to.
However, your example is actually pretty similar to what I'm going through right now. I started writing without much of a plan or a connection to the story, and now I'm starting to flounder some 15,000 words in. I completely neglected world-building and plot development beforehand. Well, maybe it's time to work on that stuff. ?
It's strange, really. I'm used to my characters living in my head and making a racket up there whenever I take too much time off, but with this story I don't even think about it unless I'm actually sitting there writing. It's really strange. I'm used to being consumed by my stories. Having a deep bond to them. I'm not sure what is causing this absence.
I used to do that - sit down with a notion in my head and write until fatigue set in, or until I'd written myself into a corner.
It took a while, but that finally changed. Now, I won't start into a story, especially a longer one, unless I have a fairly clear idea of its course. That is a definite beginning, middle, and end.
The exception is what I think of as 'concept stories,' short tales or parts thereof intended to provoke my thought about certain notions.
One I wrote earlier this year revolves around a utterly forbidden zone inside of a major city - just casually talking about it is considered about as tasteful as supporting child molestation. (Attempting) to enter the taboo zone carries an automatic, on the spot death sentence. Once written, I started brainstorming just how this situation could have come about. That in turn led to a couple of novella length stories which I hope to get to next year.
DragonOfTheAerie
Istari
Your idea sounds amazing. It immediately grabs my interest and makes me want to know more.
DragonOfTheAerie
Istari
I'm thinking the reason for my failure to connect to this story is that I'm still living in the world of the last story. The one I'm trying to forget for a while. But how do you make it go away...?
Combine the settings (worlds) into one. I did that fairly often in the old days. My main world is actually a fusion of five or six worlds. (Planets tend to be pretty big, and most fantasy world maps, contrary to their names, cover only tiny segments of the world.)
No offense but...maybe you worry about too many things/trying to get everything perfect instead of just writing? The only way to learn how to write is by finishing projects, not by stopping and starting new ones. There comes a point in time when you just have to keep going no matter what.
DragonOfTheAerie
Istari
Since I'm dealing with totally different magic systems, species and technology levels, this wouldn't be very plausible.
DragonOfTheAerie
Istari
Definitely, lol. I just wish the anxiety/feeling of lack of control would stop. And I'm writing this story to take a break from the last one (I can tell you with absolute certainty that I NEED a long break...almost two years of everything else wasn't getting me past the fourth chapter...) and I am physically, but mentally? The characters of the last one still live in my head, but this new one hasn't colonized my brain in nearly the same way. Thought if I could knock out 2-3 novels before coming back to the big one, my experience would be greater and my confidence renewed. Don't know how it will work and I don't like not knowing. I don't suppose I CAN do anything other than keep at the new project though...
I'm trying to worldbuild. Started a note for this story on my notes app. Interviewed my MC. Trying to find the real meat of the story, the juicy conflict, that can drive my inspiration. This is what happens when you pants it completely....
I had to deal with this as well when I fused settings.
First, are all the different races really necessary? Big mistake by all too many authors is too many races.
Second, time happens. Same world, different era's. An old race vanished. A new race appeared from somewhere. Some hero or demon did something that fundamentally changed how magic works. Brilliant inventors launched a technological revolution in one part of the world - but those devices will be centuries reaching other parts. Or the inverse: an ancient technological civilization collapsed, leading to an age of barbarism. Or both (which is sort of what is happening in my principle world.)
Geo
Lore Master
It's funny how after a whole very hot and bright summer I found myself missing cloudy days... sure soon enough I'll have my fill of those but for now... I want rain!
FifthView
Dark Lord
Last night I woke after two hours of sleep from a vivid dream about two not-quite-human side characters, and I now have a much clearer idea of them and plan to give them more prominent roles. I'm psyched. This is unusual for me, since I often no longer remember dreams and rarely dream about my characters.
DragonOfTheAerie
Istari
I love it when dreams are inspiring. Sadly it isn't a common occurrence. I have been working on my WIP for 4 years and have had maybe 3 or 4 dreams directly related to it. Which is very strange, since it consumed my mind so much during much of those 4 years...
DragonOfTheAerie
Istari
I feel the same. I want to curl up with a good book inside during a long, hard rain.
DragonOfTheAerie
Istari
They're entirely different kinds of races. Humans with modifications plausible through genetic engineering of some kind vs. magical immortals (not unlike the wizard race i invented for Top Scribe VI) and were-creatures (like werewolves, but becoming various large animals; one character becomes a jaguar, another a grey poodle.) I like internal consistency, so...And no, they're not necessary i guess, but they do add so much to the story that would otherwise be missing.
The magic system is the main thing. Totally incompatible...
Though i'll end up using one of the ideas for one story in the other, so there is that.
DragonOfTheAerie
Istari
The whole point was that they're two entirely different stories, completely unrelated to one another, so I could get my mind on a different track. So they're quite different.
Interestingly, the world for the story I was writing previously actually was a combination of two different worlds I created.
La Volpe
Mystagogue
I don't know if I'll be able to give you any good advice on this -- the moment I start with a new story, I put the old story out of my mind immediately.
However, I do feel that you're very attached to your on-hold story, perhaps so much that you think it is the masterwork of your writing career, and that anything else you write will just be fluff; thus your problem. This is a guess on my part, based on the way you've spoken (typed?) about your story and your experiences with new stories that you write.
Does this sound accurate?
DragonOfTheAerie
Istari
The thing is that i form intense emotional bonds with my stories. I think about them even when i'm not writing them. It's not easy to just put them away. I get really attached.
To this one especially, since i've been working on it for 4 years.
La Volpe
Mystagogue
So it happens with all your stories? I.e. not just this one you've been working on for 4 years?
The reason I'm bringing all this up is because your situation seems marginally similar to an issue I had with drawing. I found that I, at some point after drawing something, was unable to make any corrections to the picture for fear of ruining it (I know this sounds like it has to do with revisions, but stay with me). So I would make little hardly-visible lines and avoid erasing anything (since that usually just ends up worse) and it would end up not being as good as it could be.
Then I realised that my problem was that when I had drawn something that I was even marginally happy with, I was so sure that I would never be able to draw something that good again, so I didn't want to ruin the one good one that I actually had.
So, what is my point here? Well, perhaps you have a similar issue. In that you have this one Big Idea which you've been working on for 4 years, and you don't think that anything you make will be able to be as good as that story; so your subconscious doesn't want to bother with writing it, since it thinks it'll just be terrible anyway (which, of course, is not the truth).
This might not be applicable to you at all (especially if this happens to you with every story you write), but I thought I'd put it out there anyway.