Books have minds of their own

Writers often talk about their characters taking over, telling the story the way they want it to be told, resisting when the author tries to make them do things that they don't want to do. But, for me at least, it's not just the characters that do that. It's the book as a whole.

I've got a lot of false starts -- as, I think, most writers do. One I simply wrote myself into a corner on. There wasn't enough going on with the main plot to carry the book and I didn't know how to fix it. But the rest ... they just wouldn't come. And with writing the one I've been working on for the last couple months, I've realized why.

It's all well and good to have great ideas, full of conflict and intrigue, but sometimes they just won't work. You can't force a book. If it's resisting, there's a reason and it's up to you as a writer to figure out why. Sometimes it takes a little while to plot things out, depending especially on the type of novel you're writing. But if it just won't come, maybe there's something wrong with what you're trying to make it do.

I've come to believe that the book is going to be your first critic. If what you're doing isn't working, it's going to tell you even when you're writing it. You just have to listen.