Sunday, July 26, 2009

Writing Struggles

“You can’t be a serious writer of fiction unless you believe the story you are telling.” - Norman Mailer

So... I took some time yesterday to do a bit of writing. I worked on "A Jewel for Geoff" because it was on my mind. I wrote an entire scene but it felt rather flat and I finally figured out why: I'm not particularly attracted to him.

Usually, when I write a story, I fall madly in love with the hero -- I should, right? If I don't love him then why would a reader?

The problem is that the cover for "One Love for Liv" portrays Geoff as a follicly challenged geeky guy... not how I had pictured him at all. But, that cover was my last hurrah -- and I had no choice but to take it (w/o complaint). So instead of the rather handsome and yuppy-ish Geoff I had pictured in my mind when I wrote the book:



I ended up with balding Geoff:



And I can't get past it. One line I wrote had Geoff raking his fingers through what little hair he had left, and I kinda went... eww...

**sigh**

So what do I do now? I can't change him into a different person. He is who he is in the first book... It's a conundrum. A quandary. A problem.

Of course, Mike didn't look at all like I'd planned either. Here is my Mike:



Fun, irreverent, goofy -- not Mr. hot and intense from the cover.

I'm thinking this sequel may not end up written, which makes me a little sad. Geoff deserved a HEA. I'm just not sure I can write it.

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Good news in Pillar Place: Swallowtail!! Carole hatched yesterday without any problems! She popped right out of her glued pupa and fluffed up her wings in no time at all. We released her without incident about an hour after hatching. It was a beautiful thing.

In Pillar Place: Monarch things are about the same. We have five pillars munching away happily and growing in leaps and bound, while the other five eggs show no sign of hatching. Odd. We also haven't found any more eggs. This whole pillar season has me worried this year. I sure hope somewhere there is a bumper crop of pillars, because it surely isn't here.

Butterfly tidbit: The caterpillar has about 2,000 muscles in its body. That would be 1,344 more than us humans, we only have 656.

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8 comments:

Dru said...

oh bummer about not liking Geoff. Perhaps if he can't have his own HEA in his own book, maybe he can have it as a secondary character in another story.

I'm so glad that Carole successfully hatched with your care and attention.

Have a good Sunday!

Charity Tahmaseb said...

Yay for Carole! I've been worried about her.

As for Geoff, I don't know if it's required that he look like the the cover image on Liv. How many old school romance heros really looked like Fabio? And when Geoff goes to press, they'll give him sparkly makeover.

No worries, yes? Maybe do some image hunting today and fill your mind with the new Geoff.

MomJane said...

Charity is right. Find a new picture of Geoff and keep it in front of you as you write.

So happy about Carol. One HEA anyway.

Tori Lennox said...

I agree with the others. I'm usually more surprised if the cover looks like the characters. Go with your vision of Geoff!

Carol Ann said...

You know, maybe he isn't balding. You can't see all his hair. Perhaps he has a high forehead and the wind had blown his hair back on his head prior to the pic being taken. Don't let the picture stop you. Use your picture and write about the guy you love.

Carol Ann Erhardt
www.carolannerhardt.com

Brandy said...

Yay for Carole! I'm so glad your glue idea worked.
As for Geoff, every one seems to the have a great idea. Use your idea for the character, not what the cover for the other book looked like.

I hope you're having a delightful Sunday!

Diane Craver said...

Sorry your scene for Geoff didn't work. I did like him in the One Love for Liv novel. And I like the actor you used for inspiration for Mike. That's the bad thing about book covers when the pictures don't match your character images.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear the writing was off. Hopefully it will work for you.

Yay on the butterflies!!!