It was really horrible, to be honest, and if I hadn't been sanding down a wall, and hence too dusty to venture into the CLEAN part of the house, I might have done something rash. I was contemplating abandoning my whole work to date - 9000 words - and starting fresh. With a new investigator, new setting and new mystery, because I was sick of what I had.
Thankfully, I didn't. Instead, I wrote a list of things that were causing me pain. One thing that was freaking me out was the fact that Donna (my amateur sleuth) was probing a 'live' case - a body had been hauled out of the river a couple of days before - and the police were still investigating. I HATE stories in which bumbling amateurs get in the way of the professionals, nor amateurs who put themselves in danger when the police are justdoing their job, ma'am.
Another thing was the flatness of what I was writing - it is a first person narrative and damn Donna seemed to have no character or spark. This was a big problem because it was affecting her interactions with other characters. When she was meant to be subtly grilling suspects, or trying to bend someone to her will, I was coming up dry.
And so on. It was a rap sheet for my novel so far. Then I wrote down solutions - and I realised a lot of them were things I knew, but had forgotten to do in the nanorush. I'd intended that the police would 'close' the case as an accidental death, for example, which would prompt Donna to carry on her own investigation. And instead of focusing on plot stuff I let Donna relax with a friend - which was fair enough, as she'd just been bashed on the head the night before - and do trivial girl stuff for a little while.
And it worked. The story feels like it is back on track. In plot terms, I'm not very much further than I was 2000 words ago, but I feel a bit more comfortable with who I am dealing with, and why they are doing it. And I think what I wrote tonight was almost readable, unlike every other night of whacking the sludgebeast to see what falls off ...
So if you are struggling, draw up the rap sheet. If you like, you can sling it in my direction and I'll try to offer solutions. Because we're almost into Week 2, which is a whole different ball game.
