Back in July, I shelved one work in progress to start another. I had a character and idea I really wanted to get out of my head and onto the electronic page. I wrote seven chapters with this new character and discovered more about him than I knew at the beginning.
Then I decided to shelve that WIP, too.
Am I just a WIP gypsy, the literary (and male) equivalent of Stevie Nicks? Despite my writing transience the last couple months, I'm generally not. This time, I'm back to C.T. Ferguson, my detective protagonist, and it's good to be swimming in familiar waters again. All of the characters are as fresh as they were the last time I visited them (even though they're aging a few months between books). While it was a good experience to get someone new onto the page, I have to say I like going back to C.T. It's like taking a walk around the neighborhood where you grew up.
I plan to go back to the other WIP (well, both of them) at some point. Ultimately, we have to enjoy what we write, and I enjoy writing about the adventures and misadventures of C.T. more than the other two characters.
If you have a work in progress that's dragging a little, that isn't as much fun as you thought, or that's hit a serious creative snag, what do you do? Plowing ahead is always an option, and for some writers, it may be the best option. For me, at least, I'd rather put it aside and go back to something (and someone) I know better, and something I know I'll enjoy from beginning to end.
Happy writing.
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