when to kill the story

i had a very interesting conversation with one of my very best friends yesterday. it was our second phone conversation in under two hours, which, i am laughing when i say is not unusual. lindsey from pennsylvania is the kind of person you talk to as much as you can for many many reasons.

linds when i got to see her in PERSON finally this year :) 

in a nutshell, she's energy incarnate. synergy, too. i have discovered so much from just talking to her on the phone about characters still in the formation process. i was about to say 'accidentally discovered' but i decided not to. it's not accidental. she's my writing person.

since i write mostly about writing on this blog, i'll leave it at that, but you should know she's a lot more than a writer. she's a beautiful singer who will be singing with me should i embark on a book tour, will definitely be singing with me at my launch party in two weeks time, a wife of a beautiful husband david, puppy mom to tyson and penelope. she's someone i should have been friends with forever, someone i wish i'd gotten closer to prior to choosing my bridesmaids. and yes, she's my writing person. 

ok, maybe i didn't 'leave it that'...i've never been very good at that.

so, our conversation (#2) of yesterday was about a dilemma of hers. she's been writing a story for a while now, and while it's good, very good actually, she's been kind of sort of wanting to stop writing it all together...but she's so close...but she doesn't want to release it...but she's so close!

that's the problem isn't it? that when you have worked on something so long you think you simply must finish it based on principle. that it would be a shame not to. that it says something about your inability to "finish what you start".

these are funny, but writers BEWARE! :) 

lindsey has an amazing idea for a story, one she's been harboring for a long time, one that will absolutely make her tick, make her proud. it's one about her sweet brother andy. i won't go into detail because it's not my place just yet, but it's good. and i think it will be everything she's been gearing up towards by writing this first novel.

she asked my opinion, which is possibly dangerous, as i like to use my words. but here is a bullet pointish version of what my answer was (just in case any of you are in this predicament, whether it be writing or something entirely different.)

• i wrote a story called sentences as my first attempt. it was my first idea ever, the push to get out of writing just a song and more of a story. it was a strong idea...strong because it stole my attention and passion just enough for me to do it. 
• it was too heavy. too much for a first novel, (much like my first song "good for goodbye"–see music in menu) but like i said, it was a topic useful enough for me to do it. so i wrote a lot of it. 
• enter another idea, a lighter one, one i titled from the desk of a serial monogamist. you still haven't read it or anything, but it's written and waiting for the right time to debut. 
• writing serial monogamist helped me get all my kinks out, oil the hinges, get to the end of a story...but just because i finished it doesn't mean it was the right first book to put out into the world. 
• enter ANOTHER idea: falling stars. finally, i stumbled not the right one. and you've heard me talk about that process all over this blog so i won't go into that. 

what did i do with the first idea? is it still waiting to be written, finished? will it lie in trial and error heaven forever, shelved indefinitely? NO! NO! i cut it up for parts! i'm salvaging what does work, what i actually did a good job on. 

i am currently taking most of the characters (names and all) and putting them into a YA series i have working on the side. the characters go to the same school, but none of their plot lines are the same. the point of the book is not the same. the title is not the same. but you better believe i'm not letting it go to waste. 

i made this for lindsey, and i'm regretting that decision :) 

the point is...and there is a point: don't let all these quotes tell you that if you don't finish this idea, you're not a bonafide writer. that if you don't finish this one, you'll never finish that one. that the better idea rolling around in your head is not actually better...it's a distraction. SOMETIMES IT IS BETTER. 

and for goodness sake: stop playing by the rules. you're a writer, and there are none. for better or worse.