I have the opposite of writer’s block. No, not the good kind, where the story is flowing well and you don’t wanna stop typing because you’re afraid it will stop? No, this is when you really hate your story, you know you’re writing “whale puke1,” but you can’t stop.
So my idea was to write a cool story about a sci-fi merchant ship. But it hasn’t been going so well. I enjoy writing the characters, but it’s been hard getting a reasonable plot involved. So I’ve been stealing a style from one my favorite authors, Scott Lynch. He starts his story (The Lies of Locke Lamora) in media res, then inserting in the background/history as it becomes relevant to the rest of the story.
Not sure if it’s going to work yet, but I feel that the story is getting better. The action is there, the background is good, and the characters chatting about everything and nothing is starting to pull together. I’m hoping that works. Meanwhile the story that will not die continues…
Have you ever had this problem? Tell me about it in the comments below!
1“Whale Puke” is what Laura (a fictional author) says about her writing in Dean Koontz’s book Lightning. To which, her husband replies, “Oh, that means it’ll sell another couple thousand copies. 🙂
Albigensia Press 