Yesterday, I surrendered.
I'd been fighting for weeks writing a story I promised to my agent for March 1st. I only needed 50-60 pages of story and a synopsis, but all I did was write and cut, write and cut. I totally love this idea, but I was frustrated and getting nowhere fast.
And then I have this other idea I'd also talked to my agent about, but it isn't the one I wanted to work on first even though I was nearly as excited about it as the proposal I was trying--and failing--to write. But I could see the first scene of this book fairly clearly, something that wasn't the case with the other, and on Wednesday morning, the hero gave me information about himself. Again, not something I was getting with the other one.
I learned that Jack was divorced, that his mother was an alcoholic, and that he'd joined the LAPD after being an MP in the army. That meant he was older than the people with whom he went through the police academy. With all this information coming in, I decided to take my lunch hour and write the beginning to this story. Why not, right?
It actually went well. Wow. It's been a while since I could say that about a writing day. By 9pm last night I had 4 pages (that's high production for me on a weeknight) and I resented the fact that I had to quit writing and go to bed. I wanted to keep going and I believe I could have written the entire scene if I'd only had enough time and energy to make it to the end. :-) I muttered a few curses as I booted down, that's how much I wanted to keep going.
Clearly, it would be stupid to continue fighting with the other story. It might just need more percolating time. It might need more research time. It might need something I haven't figured out yet, but Jack and company are coming through loud and clear.
I surrendered. I will work on Jack's story first, finish that proposal by March 1st (I hope!) and then go back to my problem children. :-) (The heroine is just as reticent as the hero.) Maybe by then they'll be more cooperative. I can hope at least.
Now, though, I have to figure out a few things that I hadn't thought about because I was sure I was working on the other story and I have to do it quickly if I want to put together a proposal package by March. Come on, brain, get working!
