If you are a child of the 80s you've heard the song, "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers.
I'm not a country music fan (not by a long shot), but my parents were and I've heard this song more times that I can count.
The one good thing about country music, and this is a stretch for me to admit there is one, is that their lyrics tend to have meaning behind them.
I can't say a lot of alternative rock has depth of lyrics, but some of them do, just as some country music does.
Anyway, the particular verse that comes to mind today comes from Mr. Rogers himself.
"You gotta know when to hold them.
Know when to fold them.
Know when to walk away.
And know when to run."
He's talking about cards, of course, but he could also be talking about life, relationships, you name it.
In my case, he's talking about my WIP, The Occupant.
I spent weeks creating a rock solid outline. Rock solid.
I used bullet points, I used index cards (something I never do), and I plotted that book down to every beat.
The problem with that is now that I've completed the first draft of the book, it's a rock solid draft, except I was so efficient it hitting all the plot points from my rock solid outline I'm about 50 pages short.
That's approximately 15,000 words (more or less) that I need to add.
And in order to do that, I'm going to have to rip this rock solid draft to shreds, and probably start all over again.
Dammit!
Dammit!
Dammit!
Or, maybe I don't but I'm too close to it now in order to see how.
I've got the draft with a few writer friends who can perchance give me some direction but in all honesty I know it's up to me.
Dammit!
Dammit!
Dammit!
So, I'm going to follow Mr. Kenny's advice and walk away, just for a little while.
A week. Maybe two.
Then I'm hoping when I come back to The Occupant I can look at it with fresh eyes. Oh, I have no troubles coming up with scenes and plot points to add to the draft, but the freaking outline is so rock solid I have no idea where to put them!
Dammit!
Dammit!
Dammit!
I've been going so hard marketing Shut Up, rewriting The Line, and then writing The Occupant that there hasn't been a week or two that I'm not sitting at my laptop a couple hours a day.
The idea scares me.
How can I just walk away and do nothing when I have so much rewriting to do?
But I must.
I need clarity.
I need a break.
Dammit!
Dammit!
Dammit!
And who is to say after I come back to rewrite The Occupant I will have any clarity and I didn't just waste two weeks of possible writing time?
It's a gamble.
I'm not a country music fan (not by a long shot), but my parents were and I've heard this song more times that I can count.
The one good thing about country music, and this is a stretch for me to admit there is one, is that their lyrics tend to have meaning behind them.
I can't say a lot of alternative rock has depth of lyrics, but some of them do, just as some country music does.
Anyway, the particular verse that comes to mind today comes from Mr. Rogers himself.
"You gotta know when to hold them.
Know when to fold them.
Know when to walk away.
And know when to run."
He's talking about cards, of course, but he could also be talking about life, relationships, you name it.
In my case, he's talking about my WIP, The Occupant.
I spent weeks creating a rock solid outline. Rock solid.
I used bullet points, I used index cards (something I never do), and I plotted that book down to every beat.
The problem with that is now that I've completed the first draft of the book, it's a rock solid draft, except I was so efficient it hitting all the plot points from my rock solid outline I'm about 50 pages short.
That's approximately 15,000 words (more or less) that I need to add.
And in order to do that, I'm going to have to rip this rock solid draft to shreds, and probably start all over again.
Dammit!
Dammit!
Dammit!
Or, maybe I don't but I'm too close to it now in order to see how.
I've got the draft with a few writer friends who can perchance give me some direction but in all honesty I know it's up to me.
Dammit!
Dammit!
Dammit!
So, I'm going to follow Mr. Kenny's advice and walk away, just for a little while.
A week. Maybe two.
Then I'm hoping when I come back to The Occupant I can look at it with fresh eyes. Oh, I have no troubles coming up with scenes and plot points to add to the draft, but the freaking outline is so rock solid I have no idea where to put them!
Dammit!
Dammit!
Dammit!
I've been going so hard marketing Shut Up, rewriting The Line, and then writing The Occupant that there hasn't been a week or two that I'm not sitting at my laptop a couple hours a day.
The idea scares me.
How can I just walk away and do nothing when I have so much rewriting to do?
But I must.
I need clarity.
I need a break.
Dammit!
Dammit!
Dammit!
And who is to say after I come back to rewrite The Occupant I will have any clarity and I didn't just waste two weeks of possible writing time?
It's a gamble.
No comments:
Post a Comment