Every author has been there. A brilliant idea comes to you, and so you eagerly begin to pen it down. That idea grows and grows, and then soon you begin to write. It looks like another fantastic project until you’re knee deep in dog-shit and the entire idea has unraveled at the seams.
It’s exhausting, it really is. Spending all of that time on something that doesn’t come to fruition, but therein lies the power of failure. You’ve grown substantially as a creator, and you have a base of work that you can rebuild at a later date. This happened to me quite recently with a book that was to take place in a far-future, dystopian, fantasy universe. That book might still emerge at a later date, or maybe not. Regardless, what I’ve come to learn is that by honing back your obsessive ambitions, and focusing on creating an incredibly tight piece of work, that plays to all your strengths, you can emerge victorious, and then reexamine the failed manuscript at a later date. (Awfully long sentences are just a benefit of being an author)
I write these posts almost as much as a lesson to myself as to any aspiring author or fan who wishes to dive deeper into the creative process. Too many author blogs are ripe with irrelevant and recycled tips. In fact, the best tip one can ever receive is to simply get back to reading and writing. There’s no shortcut, and the long road is often painful. But that’s not why we, or really anyone should write. It’s for the love of the craft, and possibly because we’re masochists. Can’t do much for the latter.
Sidenote: I’ve begun work on a horror novella/long short-story which should be completed by, at the absolute latest, January 2020, so keep your eyes peeled. It’s sure to be a shock 😉
The Inky Hearth 