WIPs and Chains

I’m sticking to Office Wife, even though I have reached that point where I believe I have written 125 pages of utter crap.

I want to make myself finish this story and then I can back to something else, or even start one of those new ideas.

I’m not doing so well on the “not going back and editing every time I open the document” plan. I keep doing it. I’m trying not to.

My fear is that this story is meandering all over the place like a wild pantser plot, and my characters are not acting at all consistent with their motivations. But I’m getting to know them better, and I have gone back a couple of times and added things to the beginning of the story that make them more real and believable and dimensional. And I have other ideas, too. This seemed to work for me before, going back to the beginning after I know the characters more fully, and fleshing out both them and the story. I know there’s not a right way or a wrong way – I’ve read that you should know your characters intimately right down to what kind of toothpaste they like to use before you even start writing, but I’ve also read that it’s okay to get to know them along the journey.

So once again I’m just trying to find my way, trying to find my balance with this. It feels loose and a little vague but I’m going to keep going and hope I can tighten it all up later.