The Joy of Story – 5 Quick Ways to Rediscover Why You Love Your WIP

by Martina Boone

It sneaks up on you in the darkling hours of the night, or in the steamy shower, or in the mindless drone of commuting or chauffeuring a carload of kids kicking the back of your seat.

The idea. The brilliantly shiny idea that won’t stop poking you and saying ‘Write Me.’

You fall hard in lust. You can’t sleep. You can’t eat. You can’t stop thinking about it.

But then.

It grinds to a screeching halt . . . Somewhere, you stall, and writing becomes a chore that makes your brain hurt. (Yes, that’s actually a thing. You can overstrain your brain.)

How do you get to the point where you remember the pure, sheer joy you felt when you started on that idea?

Turn things upside down and approach your manuscript from a different direction. Here are five ways you can do just that.

1. Reconnect with Your Characters via Writing Prompts.

Some of my favorites include picking a particular character and continuing from the following beginning, with the added condition that whatever your character writes has to relate to another character.

I love when . . .
I hate when . . .
My greatest fear at this moment is . . .
My greatest hope at this moment is . . .
I would be humiliated if . . .
I could achieve my goal if . . .

2. Write the Jacket Copy

Write a kickass jacket description for the book, and if you find yourself tempted to fudge something to make it clearer, or sexier, or more exciting? Go back and write THAT story instead. Chances are, your subconscious is already fixing your story for you and all you have to do is listen.

3. Do the Meet and Greet Mashup

Picture yourself in a room with a bunch of twenty-something film execs. How do they describe your book to each other? Compulsion has been described as everything from Beautiful Creatures meets The Body Finder and Gone with the Wind meets Romeo and Juliet to In the Midnight Garden of Good and Evil meets The Sixth Sense. Thinking about what makes someone describe it that way, and thinking how else I could describe it, is not just a hoot, it’s a little bit of instant brainstorming that takes my head in whole new directions.

4. Write the 1 Star Review of Your Book

Pretend you’re one of the notorious Goodreads slasher/bullies. Don’t think. Don’t censor yourself. What things could you say that are so horrible they are funny? And once you’ve written them, how would you go about not just eliminating the potential for someone to say that, how would you turn that criticism into a strength?

5. Write the 5 Star Review of Your Book

Imagine you are the most enthusiastic fan on the planet. What would you write about your book? The gushiest of gushes, the ravest of raves. Give yourself ALL the pats on the back. Are you feeling the love yet? Now go write a scene that involves the thing you love most.

Figuring Out What Your Subconscious Is Trying To Tell You

The bottom line is that when you lose the joy in your manuscript, it’s not because there’s something wrong with you. Nor is there something irreparable going on with your manuscript. Untangling the problem is usually akin to finding the end of a skein of yarn. Once you’ve got that in your grip, its relatively easy to unwind the whole length and clean it up. But if you pull on it from the wrong spot, you just end up with a distorted mess.

A Happy Brain is a Creative Brain

I don’t know about you, but my brain is happiest when creating. That’s when I’m energized and I can’t stop gushing about what I’m working on.

When I’ve lost the passion for a project, staring at the computer or going back over pages I’ve already written is rarely the best solution. I need a fresh perspective.

What about You?

Do you have techniques that have gotten you back on track when you feel like you’re ready to shove that project in a drawer?

September Giveaways!

The count-down is starting. Compulsion is less than two months away, so I’ve got a huge giveaway planned for next month, and you can already get in on the action by going to CompulsionToRead.com.

But in the meantime . . . : )

I’ve got a signed set of Veronica Rossi’s complete, and completely gorgeous, Under the Never Sky trilogy, plus an ARC of Compulsion plus a Tiffany-style key necklace like Barrie wears.

Also. there are four Pick Any YA Giveaways, complete with assorted interviews, excerpts, tidbits, and one of my favorite reviews EVER.

You can find those here:

Stop by each of those blogs to enter–you’ll get an extra entry for the Grand Prize giveaway below for each location you enter, too!

Good luck! : )

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Martina Boone

Martina Boone is the award-winning author of the romantic southern gothic Heirs of Watson Island series, starting with COMPULSION from Simon & Schuster, Simon Pulse and the Celtic Legends Collection of novels set in Scotland, Cornwall, and Ireland beginning with LAKE OF DESTINY. She’s passionate about improving lives through literacy and the love of books, and she runs the Compulsion For Reading program to distribute books to underserved schools and libraries.

She lives with her husband, children, Shetland Sheepdog Phinney, and Zoey the lopsided cat, and she enjoys writing contemporary romantic fiction with a hint of magic set in small towns and beautiful places. When she isn’t writing, she’s addicted to travel, horses, skiing, chocolate flavored tea, and anything with Nutella on it.

Post © Martina Boone and/or Adventures in YA Publishing. All rights reserved.

Posted: Sep 2, 2014

Category: Imported from AYAP

Tags: Inspiration for Writers | Martina Boone | Writing Prompts | YA Fiction Giveaways

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The first slide is an animation of a science/magic room in a castle. A cartoon character of a mad-scientist looking man in in the foreground says: “Hello! Dr. Frankenstein here to say, Well Done on kid lit zombie week! I’m an expert at reviving the dead, and let me assure you, with a little spark, you can bring dead projects to life. Especially if you dig up parts from other dead things. I’ll even let you have a sneak peek at my laboratory’s store room to consider potential parts for your dead project. If you see something with a yellow glow, that means you should click it. Have fun!”

He points to the right side of the screen and a new scene slides in of a castle science/magic storage room. There are various cartoon Frankenstein body parts scattered around. Some of them have a yellow glow. If you click on them, the images below appear (I’ve added alt text to them, so I hope it works).

The Heart of your story is the main character. The protagonist is the beating core that truly brings your story to life. If your MC doesn't make kids (and their grown-ups) care within the first few pages, your story will flatline. </p>
<p>Your main character needs to be:<br />
• Relatable enough for kids to see themselves<br />
• Unique enough to stand out in the slush pile<br />
• Active enough to drive the story<br />
• Memorable enough to survive multiple readings at bedtime</p>
<p>Where do you find this amazing donor heart? It might be the very thing you loved so much about the manuscript you want to revive. It might be the younger sister from your shelved YA novel. Or maybe it’s the hilarious kid you blogged about meeting at a school visit. Find a character beating with potential and place it in the center of your story.<br />

The Brain of your story is the theme or central message. The theme is the big idea that controls everything else. Picture books are more than stories - they're tiny life lessons disguised with humor and heart.</p>
<p>But your theme needs to be:<br />
• Subtle enough not to trigger the dreaded "didactic" rejection<br />
• Clear enough for a four-year-old to grasp<br />
• Universal enough to speak to both kids and adults<br />
• Fresh enough to prevent agents and editors from responding with "Not another sharing/bedtime/first-day story!"</p>
<p>Check your other dead manuscripts to see if there is a recurring theme, something that really seems to be speaking to you. Find the bit of poetry you scribbled on the back of a receipt to see what theme inspired it. Reread the pep talk you texted your critique partner at 1am. Pick the theme that will drive your story, giving it purpose, direction, and deeper meaning.<br />

The Legs of your story is the plot. Not to be confused with a grave plot.🤪 The plot is what keeps everything upright and moving, as well as providing support for all the other elements. You have very few words to use in a picture book, so you need to do a lot with each plot point.</p>
<p>In general, your plot should:<br />
• Hook readers fast<br />
• Build tension that a child can follow<br />
• Create page turns that feel natural<br />
• Wrap up in a way that satisfies</p>
<p>You can borrow a plot twist (a leg) from one manuscript and the opening (the other leg) from a different manuscript. Consider if the subplot of the middle grade novel you trunked would work better as a picture book. Or maybe your Facebook post about a disastrous camping trip could become a story for kids. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other until you have your storyline.

The Arms of your story are the side characters.

The Torso of your story is the setting. Setting helps a story breathe and connects all the elements of the story. It isn't just where your story lives, it's what makes your story ALIVE. It's the difference between "this happened in a park" and "this happened in that park, the one with the twisty slide that burns your legs and the creaky swing that sounds like a baby crying.”</p>
<p>Your setting should:<br />
• Make your character's world feel real<br />
• Contain your story in a way that makes sense to young readers<br />
• Connect different scenes and moments organically<br />
• Give your illustrator enough room to add visual subplots</p>
<p>Half-finished manuscripts are a great place to dig up settings, since you worked out the place details before the plot petered out. Or maybe you had to cut a second fantastic location from your chapter book. You can also revisit the detailed caption from your Instagram carousel documenting your tour of that delish candy shop. Disinter a robust setting that can house all of your story's vital organs.

After you press the Click When Done circle button, the lights flash with the sound of electricity buzzing. Then the screen goes black and lightning zaps across the screen with the sound of thunder.

The screen then lights up to show the storage room, and all the Frankenstein pieces have been assembled into the whole monster. An upbeat song plays in the background. Then a speech bubble pops up with the words, “I’m alive! I’M ALIVE!” Then the screen goes to black.

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