Again, I've been away a while. I'm sorry. But I'm back! With a new header and everything. And a new story! But more on that in a minute....
If you've watched Friends, my title will make sense to you. If you haven't, you'll miss the context.
This is a post about whether a story that's hit a brick wall is done for good or done for now.
I spent the winter working on a Victorian historical romance. I've written a couple historical romances, but my previous stories have been Regency-set. This story required a bit more modern thinking, so I moved it forward to give my heroine a credible career.
I finished a draft. At least I got to the black moment. I couldn't go further than the black moment. I told myself I'd figure it out in the next draft.
I revised. I pondered. I changed some characterization and refined some plot twists. I added a conflict.
I thought I had it, I'll be honest.
But, again, I got to the black moment and well, it just didn't feel that black.
Then I stalled out.
So it sat for a month. I opened the file. I stared at it. I refined here, adjusted there, to no avail.
I think the problem is lack of conflict in the second half. For the life of me I can't figure out what the real conflict of that part is.
After much soul searching, I've decided to set it aside for now. I'm not sure if it's a break or a break-up yet. I needed to write something else. Maybe I'll find that spark, that thing that I was missing in the story and I'll come back, revitalized. Then again, maybe I won't. For now, I refuse to let it bog me down.
I've started working on something else. It's a Upper YA/New Adult story. I'll give more details in a bit, when I have a decent blurb together. Right now, I'm just writing.
Hope you all are well!
So tell me.... Have you ever set a story aside for a while and come back? Or have you ever abandoned one completely, that close to the end? Why?
