First Drafting, Part 5: Boredom

A few years ago, I was writing a horse science-fiction novel (don’t ask…).  It was a pretty okay plot, but while it was something I was passionate about (horses) with characters that I enjoyed writing, I struggled with it.  For a while, I thought it was the fact that I’m not a science/futuristic kind of girl (okay, I sort of am, I just haven’t watched/read a lot in that genre).

Eventually my dear friend Sarah pointed out that I didn't enjoy the story because I didn’t like the MC.  And not only that, but I loved the Fire Horse group way more and cared more about their story.  Simply put, I was simply writing about the wrong story.  I didn’t want to tell Charlotte’s story, but the story of how a number of teenage horse riders became a power team of galactic warriors.

With another story I once tried to write, I got bored because it simply wasn’t exciting.  The characters were dull, I really didn’t have much of a plotline, and things boiled quickly down to where I didn’t feel like writing it at all.  So I dumped it.  Completely.  All I have is a faint remembrance of it, and a grateful feeling that I didn’t try to struggle my way through it and waste all that time on a plot-less conglomeration of characters.

But how do you find the right story, one that doesn’t make you lose interest?  And what do you do if you actually lose interest on a story you thought was worth your time?

Wait for the Right One

This may sound a bit crazy, and totally not what you want to do, but when you first get a story idea, don’t drop everything and start writing!  Don’t flip open your planner and start a chapter outline.  Don’t begin making up characters.

Write the idea down.

Everything, whether it’s a sentence, or an entire three pages of information (plots, characters, etc.).  Whatever you do, don’t lose that idea!

Then go on your merry way.

As you continue to mull over that idea, add things that come to your mind (like a side plot, character idea, scene, so on).  Are you becoming more and more excited about it?  Or after a while, do you find it’s not so interesting after all?

Sitting on a story for a while before writing may help you from losing interest after a few chapters.  I once got an idea for a story about a girl with a twin brother who was given up for adoption.  As is my custom, I added it to my “Story Ideas” note and let it sit.  And it still is the same two sentences and a working title as it was when I first got the idea.  I’m not really excited by the idea of writing that story anymore, and I don’t think about it much.  And that is why I don’t start writing or outlining when I get an idea.  If I had tried to write that book then and there, I certainly would have lost interest or gotten stuck.

You can argue that perhaps I would have gotten inspired if I had gotten to know the characters or gotten deeper into a plot.  And yes, that might be true.  But right now, I haven’t published anything.  I need to work on a story that I am passionate about it.  Not one that I sorta find interesting.  I can work on these “sort of stories” once I’m rich and famous and have more time to explore ideas that may not work out.

But I’m not throwing that idea away.  Oh, no.  I still have that idea.  If any new thoughts come up, I’m adding them.  If I get all the other story ideas written or added to other stories, I’ll come back to this one.  Or this may get added as s sub plot for a different story.

Now how long do you have to sit on these ideas?  You decide.  I sat on the first Betrayal and Bravery book for just a few months.  I sat on Rauladin for a year (but mostly because I had planned to do it for Camp NaNo, and was just waiting for April to roll around).

When You Do Loose Interest

Ask yourself if you really love this story.  Do you want to just stop writing it completely, or is something just not clicking with it – causing you to not look forward to your writing time?  Why do you not have any more interest in the story, and what can you do to fix that?

If you just cannot stand the story, maybe you should stop writing it.  Spend a little more time before writing the next story, making sure that you can carry through with it to the end.  You don’t have to do extensive outlines (if you’re more of a pantster), but just get an idea of what the book will be like, and if you’re madly in love with it.

If you’re just getting depressed about the story, and are in that this will never amount to anything and no one will like it so why am I writing this mood, I will talk more about that later.  For now, I’ll just say: this is your story, and who cares if others don’t like it, you need to love it.

If you do really want to write this story, yet just can’t seem to get a connection with it, mix things up.  Throw your outline out the window, or perhaps make one.  Kill off a character or bring a new one in.  Just start a fight scene (my favorite bit of writing advice).  Make something unexpected happen.  Forget about where you think the story should go, and just start writing.

Maybe the story is simply burning you out, and all you need is a break.  Try stepping back for just a week.  Read a book.  Make a Pinterest board for your story.  Play games with the family.  Put in extra hours at work.  Just live without your book for a bit.  After a break, are you still not interested in it, or are you ready to come back with a fresh brain and new ideas?

Or perhaps you got a new and exciting story idea that you want to write instead?  Try writing that idea down, adding stuff to it, all the while pushing on with your current story.  Tell yourself you can write the next one as soon as the current story is finished.  Maybe that’ll give you some extra incentive.

So think it over.  Why are you not interested in your story?  And what can you do about it?