Shelves

How do you know when to shelve a story?

I've been thinking about this for a few days, now. The story I'm currently working on, the one I've been working on for a solid year and a half, is dragging me down. I've started and re-started the second draft numerous times, written a couple different plot outlines, changed the story entirely from what it was and changed it back again. And still, I feel like my characters are flat, the plot is boring and uninteresting, the world unrealistic and just....meh.

Meh. That's a good word. The story, right now, is just one blob of meh.

It seems like every time I work on it, I get frustrated. I get frustrated with the overwhelming amount of possibilities one second, and the lack thereof the next. I get frustrated because, in theory, it's a good story. In my mind, it's a great story. That story just won't form itself on the screen in front of me.

I know writing isn't always easy--trust me, I know--but is it supposed to feel so...forced, every time I sit down with it? Is it supposed to make me want to tear out my hair and toss my computer out the window?

I feel like I should take a break from it, but I have taken a break from it. I took several months away from it, and before that I took just about a full year away from it. How long am I supposed to wait?


Maybe I'll take a few days away from it, and work on one of my other many projects for the time being. I've been muddling around with this for the past couple of weeks--I need some time to clear my head.

Until later,

- Justyne