Yeti – YA Chit Chat

Up until a couple of weeks ago, my writing was on fire. I couldn’t get enough. It was during this time I stumbled upon a publisher’s shout out for short stories for their upcoming anthology. The story had to be based on a picture prompt they provided. I had one story in the slush pile beneath my bed I thought would work, but after playing with it, I decided to chuck it and write a new one.

I pondered the picture for a couple of months (yes, I said months), not sure of where I wanted to go with it or how I wanted to get there. I couldn’t think of anything to write. The story had to be adult fiction. I write YA. The publisher is known to publish books filled with romance. I don’t do romance (not well anyway). I also knew the planned release date of the anthology and nothing I came up with coincided with the nearby holiday.

Three weeks before the submission deadline, the story came to me and I wrote like a fiend. After tons of beta reads, revisions, more beta reads, more revisions, I finally had something presentable. I submitted.

And now I wait. In the meantime, my motivation to write has all but up and gone. I don’t understand. I have three manuscripts looking at me, begging me to revisit them, and I don’t have the umph to do it. I needed a quick kick in the rump.

I tried taking a walk, bicycling. I ate, but nothing worked, so I headed over to Script Frenzy to get a five-minute writing exercise prompt. Oh heavens. Do I have some weird things to write about today. Thanks, Script Frenzy, for stimulating my creative juices. Check out these whackadoodles:

In a world where mustaches are illegal, a cartographer from the future begins training for a lifetime of piratehood. (this has soooo many possibilities)

Where reality and fantasy intersect, a talking flute tries to break into pro Sumo wrestling.

En route to a llama resort, a disgruntled Yeti is mistaken for Elton John and goes with it. (love this one!)

In a world ruled by chickens, a hooker with a heart of gold discovers a shocking use for spray cheese. (intriguing)

While at a Super Bowl party, a feuding polka band plans a camp-out in a haunted bayou. (this one made me chuckle)

Now you tell me…if I can’t find something to write about with these, there’s something seriously wrong with me. That Yeti and Elton John prompt has me going all over the place. I’m getting visuals of the Yeti jamming to Crocodile Rock when he meets a Rocket Man and says to Good-bye Yellow Brick Road. One day, he meets a Tiny Dancer who is in love with a Pinball Wizard who is filled with Madness….

Gotta go guys. I’ve got Elton on the brain. I don’t know how this will all end up, but I will say this…this prompt Ain’t Gonna Be Easy, and Madness May Take Over, but I’m sure by the end, I’ll be singing Someone Saved My Life Tonight.

Oh, and this has given me an idea for a contest. Stay tuned. Friday I’ll bring on all the details!!

Sir Elton John sued for ‘Nikita’ lyrics (muzicmagazine.com)
Elton John’s New Million Dollar Piano (celebritynetworth.com)

Hi everyone. Guess what I did? I wrote a half and half. What’s a half and half? It’s a story where the first half kicks awesome butt and the second half gets the awesome butt kicked out of it.

I knew this before I sent it out to my beta readers, but sometimes I’m not sure if my doubts are my own insecurities beating me up, or if my story is really bad writing. This time, it was really bad writing.

And not only one, but two beta readers told me the same thing. In fact, they both pointed out to me the exact same spot the story fell apart, why it fell apart, and what to do about it. If I didn’t know better, I’d think they were sitting side by side comparing notes, that’s how almost identical their comments were.

Well, I suppose if I’m going to make mistakes, they should be glaring ones.

So what was wrong with it? The plot. It fell apart. There were pot holes – no, make that sink holes – everywhere in the second half. Both of my betas said the first half was excellent and they offered minor suggestions to make it tighter. In the second half, my main character acted against his nature. I threw in danger when there shouldn’t have been any…in the form of Yetis. One beta compared the scene to Disneyland Adventures Kinect game. (and this is supposed to be an adult fantasy romance? Oh, no no no. Make note: the Disneyland Yetis have to go). There were characters that walked on and off scene with no reason why, scenes that just happened because…? (Heck , I don’t even know and I’m the author). Face it. There are times when the excuse “Because I can” doesn’t work.

Why did all this happen?

Because I was trying to make the story into something it wasn’t. I was forcing it, trying to get the story to conform to a mold. I was looking at a deadline and I was trying too hard to interject an element in the story that really can’t be rushed. The result? An ooey gooey mess that now has to be written all over again. Once again, I should have listened to my gut and not my head.

After giving the story a two-day rest, I started it back up again and I’m writing the second half the way I should have written it all along. I’m writing for me, not for what I think someone else wants or expects. I figure others will either like it or they won’t. I can’t please everyone, so I shouldn’t try. All I can do is write from the heart. Once I do that, the rest will fall into place.

So what about you? Have any of you written a half and half? Please share your literary blunders and how you overcame them.