Secret Writing and Unexpected Gifts

[stephanieburgis]

It's been hard to find time to blog in the last few days for the best of all possible reasons: because I've spent almost all of my non-child-caring energy on novel-writing with the kind of joyous abandon and obsession that I always yearn for but don't always experience. I've fallen (even more) behind on emails, and I haven't posted here as

Comments

[jaimecallahan]

What was it about the ideas that lead you to decide they really weren't working? I sometimes have difficulty telling the difference between that and something I can push through and make work anyway.

[stephanieburgis]

It is hard to figure that out, isn't it? For me, the key factor was realizing that with both of my first two projects, I was writing to try to please other people, not myself, and writing stuff that I wouldn't personally love to read...and that's not just disheartening, I think it's a recipe for failure!

[jaimecallahan]

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I appreciate hearing your thoughts on the subject.

[jennygordon]

[stephanieburgis]

Oh, yes! It seems to be an inevitable part of the process, for better or for worse - going through the interim projects on the way to the one that really "fits".