Star Witness
As often happens to me, the direction I started taking in NaNoWriMo was absolutely driving me bonkers. I used an idea I’ve actually had for about fifteen years, sketched out here and there in the longhand of my girlhood, and I think the story idea and most of the characters are actually solid, but I just can’t get them all to behave.
The beginning was plodding along, my heroine was too much of a hand-wringer and too little of an ass-kicker (though she was standing up for herself a little more once I steered her away from the Bronte impression she wanted to do) and I was frozen with the idea that I had absolutely no idea how to flesh out the middle of the story other than adding gratuitous nakedness. That’s all fine and dandy, but it wasn’t the story I wanted. Basically, I hated it. Right now I still hate it.
Then I posted my 70’s cop fantasy on the old blog, and voila…a brand new idea popped into my head. I tried to ignore it, but it wouldn’t go away, and my starter NaNo characters paled in comparison to my new idea. So I did what you’re absolutely NOT supposed to do and I scrapped Book 1 for Book 2…and now I have over 5000 words written in two days and I’m still typing away with relish (and mustard, ba dum bum). Go figure.
I went from paranormal romance to contemporary cop romance/suspense (another favorite of mine…you already know I Love A Man In A Uniform) and oh, I’m so much happier. It just goes to show you that sometimes, you have to trust your instincts as a writer. If I’m forcing it, it won’t work.
Incidentally, the title of this post is not the title of the new effort, but the title of my New Favorite Song by My New Favorite Artist, Neko Case. Go here and you can listen to it for free on her website. Star Witness, that’s the song that sucked me in, but any of the samples she has up are worth a listen. God, the woman has that kind of lush, plaintive voice that I adore, and while you’ll hear the country in her soulful sound, you can’t pin Neko down into a genre, another thing I love about her. Go. Check her out. You’ll want to put on your cowboy boots and your motorcycle jacket and head out on a road trip for liquor across state lines with your sister’s ID.
Just watch out for the cop in the muscle car. He’ll pull your butt right over.
Hmm. Adding gratuitous nakedness in the middle of a story?
I thought we were supposed to shoot the moon on the very first page. Oh, no, wait. It was shoot the sheriff on the first page. Never mind.
Sounds like you made a wise change of direction.
and, if you don’t finish in a moonth, at least what you have will be good.
I agree, sometimes you just have to know when to set something aside. I’m glad the new story is working out for you. Good luck writing.
Have you read the Meg Cabot pep talk yet?
Hi Coco! Followed you over here from Aunt Becky’s place. I can hear Billy Mays’ ads for our “item” now. Although I don’t want to see him modelling it. Looking forward to reading more of your blog! Congrats on the inspiration for the novel. Good luck!
Assentia, I did just read Meg’s pep talk, and how funny that she talked about exactly this.
But really, the old story wasn’t working. At all. Not for me and not for the characters, mostly right from the beginning. Could I have forced myself to soldier on? Sure. But I can admit right now that I wouldn’t have finished it, and whether or not I finish the new effort, it’s working better for me than the first one did.
Isn’t it horrible when characters don’t behave??? My heroine always runs off and has sex with strange men. Go figure.
Glad to hear that you’ve found a story that shows up to help you work! I’m considering gratuitous nakedness.