|
The writing challenges I faced with the writing of No Boundaries
 Sometimes writing a particular story gives us challenges. What am I saying? In every story I've ever written, I've faced one challenge or another on the way to completion. This is a good thing. With each challenge, I learn something in getting over the hurdle. Writing No Boundaries has been no exception... in fact, I think I have faced my biggest challenges with this book. During the writing of No Boundaries I had a lot going on in my personal life which made the book difficult to write because my focus was lacking. I felt like I was trying to build a house, and the tool for digging the foundation was a little plastic bucket. And it was raining, so with every bucketful of dirt I pulled out, more slid into the hole with the rain. Each thought, each paragraph, each word, felt like the bucket stuck in the mud, making the slurping sound as I finally pulled it free.
The odd thing is that prior to writing No Boundaries I had more of an idea of what I wanted the book to be when it grew up than any other I've written. I had a more detailed outline. I knew the majority of the characters, there were fewer surprises for me to deal with along the way. It should have made the book easier to write, but it didn't. Or maybe it did, but I don't realize how bad things would have been with something else. I'm still struggling with this book, but this time from a different persepctive. Although there are days when I feel like I will NEVER get the editing completed, I know I ultimately will finish this and get it on the shelf.
 Now my digging has taken on a different aspect. Before I was frantically trying to dredge up what I could so I didn't drown in the hole (or get buried alive or any other such drastic thing). Now, I'm still digging through this story... but it is to find the pearls I know are there. At one point through the process of writing No Boundaries I contemplated stopping, calling it quits with this series and announcing that I had been beaten (okay - maybe it was more than once). What stopped me was the story itself. It has value; there is good in there; I just have to clean the mud off. Does this mean because of all the difficulty I had in writing this book that it will not be as good? Absolutely Not!!! This book has a lot that I love, and I can't imagine Katie's life without these events. It just means I need to take the extra time to slog through the mud and dig out the pearls.
What are your writing challenges?
|
