A letter to aspiring writers… it’s okay to fall out of love with your work.
I promise. Truly, it is. Before I wrote Coven, I spent roughly three and a half years working and reworking a YA Fantasy novel called Trigger I wrote during NaNoWriMo. The first draft took me several months to complete, but by the end, Trigger was a whopping 200k word novel. Before delving into the editing process, I took a well-deserved break and allowed myself to do what any author should—celebrate!
When it finally came time to edit, I found my work… lacking.
Undeterred, I dove right into the editing process, then stopped. Restarted editing, stropped again, then began to re-write the entire thing. This process cycled four, five, six times, until I reached a point where I was no longer passionate about my story. Through every re-write and edit, I couldn’t seem to capture what I felt was the pulse of the story. I was disappointed in myself, and whenever I was asked by family or friends about Trigger, I smoothed over the topic with a myriad of plausible excuses.
- No time to write.
- Writer’s block.
- The editing process is endless!
I said all of these things even though I knew in my heart I was done.
The allure of new stories is what finally allowed me to put Trigger on the proverbial shelf, plus a little nudging from my then boyfriend (now husband!). To be quite honest, I wish I would have done it sooner. I wish I would have had the confidence to let go and allow myself the opportunity to explore more ideas and stories because there is nothing wrong with doing that. Yet I forced myself to stay in a story I was no longer in love with for fear of “failing” and being a “quitter.”
But I am no failure or quitter.
Yes, Trigger is still collecting dust waiting for its turn once again, but I’m in no rush. I’m working on my sixth book, am gently plotting my first series spinoff, and patiently world building a fantasy series I’ve been wanting to write for years.
Someday I’ll turn back to Trigger, but if not, that’s okay because in the end it gave me the practice and learning experience to prove to myself I could write a book.
Remember, not every story you write will turn out the way you imagine. And sometimes, no matter how much work you put into them, they might still fall flat. That’s okay—because just writing is enough. The more you do it, the better you get. One day you might fall out of love with a story and set it aside. Years later you’ll go back to it, and just as before, put your heart and soul into it. Only this time it will be with a learned hand.
xxx
Rebecca