Disillusioning oneself out of a story

[KillerMuffin]

So, I've got this multi-parter that I posted way, way against the goo dway to do things. I posted it before it was complete. WH says don't do that and he's so right.

Anyway, it's set in corporate America and has several fictionally powerful movers and shakers doing their moving and shaking thing.

I wasn't too excited about it after the second chapter, but I got it all nicely plotted out and it just needs writing. The sex is boring and I don't especially like the lead female character.

The problem is that I've never really had a great interest in corporate America to begin with and it hasn't gotten an stronger, but that was okay. I'm pretty sure I could muddle through. Then, a few weeks ago, I got a piece of feedback that essentially said, great story, love where you're going with it, but. The but was that I was wrong. Corporate America doesn't act like that and neither do the movers and the shakers. They're pretty much polar opposite. I imagine he's right because I'm ignorant enough to be way off base. That and I made the cardinal sin of never doing any research. Just off I went based on novels I've read. It'd be like writing a lawyer thriller after reading John Grisham and watching a little Court TV.

So now my interest in the story is completely gone. I want to finish and I'm left with two options. 1) Trudge along as is and hope for the best. 2) Go back and change the setting now while I have a chance and move along into something I'm more familiar with.

I'm leaning really strongly toward 2 because it's the right way to do things. I think, though, I'll have the three chapters I have up now pulled off for the time being. There isn't that much to rewrite, but there's a lot to write write. So I can sit on it until I've got all of the thing written and do it again.

Thanks, guys and gals, you've been helpful!

 

[Lauren Hynde]

God, don't you just love it when you're working on one thing for months and just when you're about to finish, realize you ought to have started differently? It's such a rush.

All that matters to me is the final result. I'd go with #2 in a heartbeat.

 

[Guest]

God, don't you just love it when you're working on one thing for months and just when you're about to finish, realize you ought to have started differently? It's such a rush.

All that matters to me is the final result. I'd go with #2 in a heartbeat.

______

I've had three major re-writes on my current story.

Multiple ... ahem ... male orgasm.

Go for #2!

 

[Never]

Killer,
I'm not a writer so you've confused me. You say that you don't like the lead female – how is changing the setting going to fix that?

You don't know much about corporate America, okay. What about corporate America don't you know? The dress? The etiquette? The culture? You know, the Godfathers trilogy has some of the best movies ever made but my stepfather knows quite a bit about that culture and the movies aren't accurate.

Maybe I'm thinking about this all wrong but how much does setting matter, really? If you have a man who wants to be powerful and is willing to do anything to reach his goal, are his actions and attitude going to change if you put him in the boardroom, or the court of France, or on a spaceship?

I guess what I'm wondering is, is it the setting or the type of characters?

That's not your question, though. In answer to your question: I would either choose 1 or ask Laurel to delete my story.

 

[deliciously_naughty]

I know how you feel...I have two stories up that need finishing. One has 4 of 5 chapters up, and the other only has the first chapter of 5 up. I feel guilty for not working on either.

 

[Jenny _S]

So now my interest in the story is completely gone. I want to finish and I'm left with two options. 1) Trudge along as is and hope for the best. 2) Go back and change the setting now while I have a chance and move along into something I'm more familiar with.

KillerMuffin,

As I see it you have made one mistake in that you wrote about something you had no real knowlege or interest in. Ok, old new... too late to worry about that now.

Now maybe you should thing of the third option. Does it matter that YOUR corporate America doesn't fit someone elses? We are talking fiction here, KM. I certainly don't remember Corporate America as Jacquelin Suzanne wrote it and I've been inside it for years.

Maybe the characters and setting don't fit someone elses notion of what it should be. But it's YOUR story, not theirs.

If you have a problem with the lead female character you can allow her to change in the subsequent chapters into what you want. That can be healthy for the story and add another dimension.

Hey, and don't ever tell anyone I said this but the worst crap I've written got the best reviews.

 

[Madame Manga]

So, I've got this multi-parter that I posted way, way against the goo dway to do things. I posted it before it was complete. WH says don't do that and he's so right.

Yeah. *sigh* Try 320K words, 22 chapters posted and wondering if you're ever going to finish it...I feel for you.

I wouldn't worry too much about whether your setting corresponds to something resembling real life, unless that had been the entire point, and obviously it wasn't. As long as your universe is internally consistent and you can sell the reader on the story, you can do it the way you want. The real problem seems to be that you haven't sold yourself on the story.

How committed did you feel to this before the quibbler quibbled on it? If that was all it took to knock you off track, I doubt you were having a good time creatively. You were muddling through and you weren't all that fond of your main character and what she did between the sheets? No, not having a good time.

At the very least, it's probably best to take a rest on it--perhaps inspiration will strike. At worst, you might have to abandon it and spend your writing time on more promising projects. Sounds like taking it down is the way to go, but you knew that. ;-)

MM

 

[curious2c]

I guess I write differently. Perhaps due to my job and the time on my hands while at work. I usually envision the story, think it over, begin writing it in my head. When I get home and begin to write I fill in details making few changes. I have written a multi-chapter story that I changed in mid stream. I still feel that I should have quit when I was ahead on that one. Oh well.

However...I would opt for number two...something I have been thinking about doing on that one story. Just call it...constructive editing.