Wednesday, July 1, 2015

IWSG Post - Saying Goodbye to a Manuscript

It’s time for the seventh IWSG of the year. The year sure has picked up speed and is flying past swiftly. IWSG (Insecure Writers Support Group) is an online group of writers that posts on the first Wednesday of every month. This amazing and awesome group was started by the adorable Alex Cavanaugh – Author of Amazon bestsellers: CassaStar, CassaStorm, CassaFire and Dragon of the Stars. In blogoland Alex is known as Ninja Captain. I have decided to give Alex another name- Super A (as it’s my birthday month, I know he will forgive me).

IWSG is a cool place to hangout online for writers. We can talk of our writing worries, fears, doubts, insecurities and anxieties and help, support, advice and encourage each other. Check the IWSG website for awesome writing tips.

For this month’s IWSG (Insecure Writers Support Group) post I was unable to choose my Insecurity because currently there are two insecurities fighting with each other to occupy my mind space. Yes, my insecurities not just trouble me, they even trouble each other.

My first insecurity is lack of time for the first 10 days of this month. I have family obligations to fulfil, so I know that my writing will definitely take a backseat during these ten days.

 But, the main insecurity this month is that I am unable to say goodbye to an old manuscript. This particular story was very close to my heart. I made the mistake of querying too fast for it. Many of the agents I queried for this manuscript asked me to send another MS and a few asked me to keep them in mind when I queried another book. Though I have gone on to write a few more books after that particular MS, I often revert to it and try to make it better in whichever way I can.

I know that as a writer I shouldn’t linger on any one particular book and should write as many as I can. But, I just am not able to say goodbye to that particular story. I tweaked it last week for the hundredth time. Sometimes, I feel I am wasting my time polishing a story that has no takers. But, honestly I am helpless. There is a strange attraction to it.

I would love to know if this has happened to you all. Has a particular manuscript refused to let go of you? Have you clung on to a particular story inspite of having moved on to other stories? Deep down do you harbour a wee bit of hope that the particular manuscript will finally get published?

24 comments:

  1. Writing is own creation so difficult to break away from it:)

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  2. Initially I cling on, but after sometime I become emotionally detached and that helps to move on to the next project.

    Destination Infinity

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  3. Don't say goodbye forever. Sometimes we grow as a writer by writing new things. Maybe over time you'll figure out what isn't right with the project you love and you'll be able to fix it. I have one of those books too.

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  4. I have drafts of mss that I hope to revisit one day - the stories, the characters still lurk in my imagination. I think that maybe I just wasn't ready - mentally, skill level-wise, etc - to tell those stories the way they wanted to, needed to be told.

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  5. Super A - thanks!
    You just don't know with that old manuscript. Maybe you are just practicing your writing skills with it and maybe it will be good enough for publication.

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  6. I love how your insecurities are dukin' it out! I set aside one of my ms's last fall in order to try my hand at a new genre (urban fantasy). Best decision I ever made! Temporarily relocated to the back burner, but not forgotten. Sometimes just getting your eyes away from it and focused on something else breathes new life into it.

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  7. At least those agents asked for another MS or told you to remember them for another. I've never had an agent tell me that! Don't say goodbye to this book. Maybe after some time you'll be able to look back at it and change things that'll make an agent want to commit. Maybe set it aside for now, but never say goodbye.

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  8. YES! And it's published. It took 10 years, but it did make it out to the world. Keep working on other things, but don't abandon this one. Often when an agent or publisher takes you on, they ask what else you have hanging around. Even if no one is interested, there's always the self-pub route. If your story rings that true with you, it will resonate with others.

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  9. Yes for me too. I have one novel that could probably be described as the novel of my heart. I've rewritten it many times, submitted a few times, and will probably keep trying forever, no matter how many other books I write and get published in the meantime. Some books simply will not let you go.

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  10. Yes, I have one of those . . . well, actually three of those, but I know that I'm not ready for them yet. I don't know why, but I'm not ready to finish them or send them out. I hope to get back to them someday, but I don't know when that will be.

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  11. I have one of those too. I think some stories just have their own time frame until you get it right. I wouldn't abandon it. I'd just put it away and work on other things and then periodically come back to it until you get it right. If it's near and dear to your heart, it wants to be told. It just is a difficult birth.

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  12. I started a non-fiction book and just couldn't get it to work. I finally did put it away, but I have enough notes that if I want to return to it and try again, I can.

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  13. We all have our 'White Wales' of writing. I was struggling with that just before this current series. Whenever I finish a project my heart always goes back to that MS that I just KNOW needs to be out there. :)

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  14. My old work doesn't want to remain on the hard drive forever. When I'm ready to return to it, it's there for me to work on it. Now, it may change a lot from its original form, like complete rewrites, but that's okay. That's what I love about self-publishing. I don't have to wait for permission to publish a book. The only thing I have to do is get it up to my standards of publishing.

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  15. I can relate to lack of time for sure, Rachna. I have a long to-do list and need to get moving on several as the time crunch will get worse in the fall.

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  16. Hi Rachna,
    It has been ages that I am reading your post. So, undoubtedly scarcity of time is the most notable culprit for me as well. About your second insecurity, well, I have a different take on it. Writing or creating a character, situation, etc are always very satisfying even if few people read them. So my take will be to create the story for which my passion is ceaseless. Good luck.

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  17. Rachna, I wouldn't forget about it if I were you. I can understand they hypnotizing effect an MS has on a writer. Do you have beta readers who've gone over it to help with the kinks? Would you like mine ? x)

    I have my first dinosaur books that need my TLC and I'm not letting those go though there's a LOT wrong with them. Purple prose for starters. lol

    ♥.•*¨Elizabeth¨*•.♥

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  18. Just put it aside for now. The day will come when you know the time is right to continue working on your story. It may be one month from now, or ten years. Sometimes you have to grow personally to be able to write a certain story.

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  19. I've rewritten old manuscripts after some time, because I can't let go of those ideas. They do come out better after that separation.

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  20. If it's worrying you that much, then maybe you need to put it away for a while... in the back of a drawer...
    One day you'll take it out again and look at it with fresh eyes... distance lends a new perspective,

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  21. I think there's a reason you can't say goodbye to it and one of these days it will be the right time for it to fly out into the world.
    The Super A name is funny and perfect for Alex. :D

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  22. There're no rules to writing, that's part of the fun:) I think you're doing great!

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  23. I've had a few ideas that stuck with me, while others were easy to let go. It's interesting to see the hurdles we come across on this journey, isn't it? :)

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  24. Hi, Rachna,

    This certainly PERTAINS TO ME. As I was reading your post, I shook my head. YES! My first novel, written back in 2009.

    I am currently registered to attend the SCBWI conference in LA at the end of the month and decided to RESURRECT my first novel... ONCE AGAIN. This has to be at least the 200th time or more.

    I had shopped it many times with always the same feedback. Great story but the beginning is not right. So I keep plugging away.

    Three days ago, it hit. Change it ... not the story the characters physical appearance and attitudes....AND to focus on the pure essence of the plot. What is the story, plain and simple from beginning to end? How is the MC going to achieve her goal?

    IT finally clicked.... Still keeping SOME OF THE lush details, my new MC was mutated into who she NEEDS to be for this story.

    I'm hoping I finally HIT the right notes on this story... Time will tell. And I will certainly keep you posted.

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