#1 [url]

May 4 07 5:01 PM

QUOTE
...it seems like something is missing and it's driving me crazy. Its actually getting in the way of continuing. Has this happened to anyone else before?


It happens to me too. I’m going through it right now.
I just started writing another novel and my first chapter was flowing beautifully. I was pumped! Then, I realized that my plot had a minor problem. My creative flow ended that very second. I haven’t written a single word since.

My fiancé told me that this was the best writing I’ve ever done and that I should correct the plot element later (it won’t come into play until much later and won’t effect the beginning at all). “Keep writing!” she said. “You’re on a roll.”
I can’t. I’ve spent days trying to work out the issue. I have thought up multiple options, each of which bends my story away from where I want it to. I’m missing something. I know my answer is out there but I just haven’t found it yet.

I know that if I continue to write, it will be crap. I can’t write what I don’t believe in. This ‘minor’ problem is getting in the way. It’s consuming me.

I cannot (or I should say - will not) soften the ‘rules’ that I created in order to make the problem go away. I write speculative fiction and always define the limits and conditions of my characters before beginning. Sticking to the rules ensures that the characters and events are consistent within that ‘world’. Once I create those rules, I must solve my character’s problem within those rules.

What I know is that I WILL solve it. And when I do, it is going to be great. I’m being forced to devise a twist, something unexpected. It will surprise me and blow my mind just like it later will to my reader.

I hope this helps. Keep at it. You’ve invested a couple of years into it. Find out what is missing (easier said than done), solve it, and then keep writing.