Frustrations

I am really frustrated right now. I have soooo many ideas for books and stories in my head and can only work on one at a time - and then I'm not sure it's the one I should or need to be working on!

I have decided though, that I need to get one book completely finished by conference time. That's a self-imposed deadline I hope will drive me to completion. So, for the next month or so, I will use this blog to record my progress and keep me on task. I have 3 chapters (of 12) completely written, along with the last chapter, several scenes and the epilogue. Now I just need to fill in the rest! My goal is to write 2,000 words per day.

I read a book yesterday by an unfamiliar author. This particular book was very weak and I had to force myself to finish it. It will not be on my book review list, but I wanted to comment on it here. Usually the Heartsong line provides a good story, but I was disappointed with this selection.

My main problem with it? The male character. The writer showed him to be weak, stupid and clueless. Readers can see through some of the tags she put on him, and can see a character who could have been a true hero - but the writer chose to make him "less than." The female character was also on the weak side, but the trait that made her the weakest in my opinion was allowing herself to fall in love with this weak male character when she so obviously wasn't his choice at all. The writer didn't show us the "good" characteristics that she fell in love with - she just caused it to happen. The story just seemed to happen, without much cause and effect.

I just hope by reading and analyzing this particular book I can learn how not to create my characters and how not to write my story.