Words Fail Me

[Writers Plot]

Posted by Leann Sweeney

Funny thing for a writer to say, but this happens often. In fact, aside from my first book, which came bursting out like that baby alien in the Sigourney Weaver flick, words fail me all the time. But after having written eight novels--some of those manuscripts packed away in a box where they should be--I have come to understand this is part of the writing process, at least for me. Not to say I like this little phenomenon. Not to say this is as comfortable as wearing a pair of shoes that know your feet. Oh no. When words fail me, I feel like that if I were triplets all three of me would be miserable.

I don't call this "writer's block," though. I call this "writer's mistake," because every single time I know I have made some error in the manuscript. It could have only been three pages back, or much farther back in the book, but no matter what, the writing comes to a hollering halt. That's me hollering, by the way. Because I know what it will take to fix this. I have to find the stupid blunder. This could take a of couple hours or, unfortunately a couple of weeks.

Mistakes I've made in manuscripts are sometimes easily found, but not always. In fact, this error hunt can be the most difficult part of writing a book and my guess is, it might be the reason why many people who start their first novel never finish. The writing process is unbelievably complex and this is why, if you start to write a book, you;d better know a bunch of stuff (or insert a better "s" word) about that process. Is it plot? Is it character? Is it story weaving? Is it lack of forward movement? Is it not enough conflict? Jumping conflict? (I may do a blog on jumping conflict all by itself, because it is a common and often missed mistake)

So many components comprise a good story and knowing the components does offer some reassurance that I can get to the bottom of the problem. This goes back to that argument I hear so often among writers, especially those with very few or only one book under their belt. I have heard it over and over: "So-and-so broke all the rules and they made a million dollars. Why can't I break the rules?" My respond is this: "If you want to build a house, would you skip pouring the foundation just because you know that your house will be more unique than anyone else's? Ask Frank Lloyd Wright if he ever built a house without a foundation."

Why am I talking about this? Because in the manuscript I finished last week, a book that just today drew the highest praise I have ever received from my editor on a first draft, I had gone through my usual "writer's mistake" episode very far along in the manuscript. (And I thought I it wasn't going to happen this time. Sheesh. John Lennon's not the only dreamer). My standard method of dealing with this is to not fight this awful event, though I'd very much like to muddle on through. I've learned the hard way not to keep plowing on. This may work for other writers, but I have to stop writing and think--often for days. In the shower, in the car, doing laundry, heck even petting the cat--and that's a euphemism for something else. Anyway, I must wait until I am distanced enough from the story to understand the structure. Unfortunately this time around, the thinking and the revisiting the synopsis and the re-thinking took me more than three weeks. I found the place where I'd made that wrong turn more than one hundred pages back. Yikes. I'd made a serious storyweaving blunder and the fix required adding multiple scenes. Adding scenes is a bad thing because then you have to change transitions, too. And don't get me started on those.

The writing process is the most challenging journey I have ever taken. I do not write timeless prose, I write mass market mysteries, but that doesn't make the writing any easier. Not if I want to get it right. Not if I want to do that fist pump as I sit alone nearing the end of writing a book and say, "Yes. That's how this all fits together." When the words fail me these days, I may get frustrated but I have learned that if I am patient, if I trust what I have learned about crafting a story, I will eventually find out where I went wrong. And fixing that mistake is one hell of a wonderful moment. I know that I will finish the book, send it off and celebrate--and then collapse in a quivering heap on my kitchen floor. Thank goodness my husband usually comes home from work, picks me up and says, "Got the book off today, huh?"