The Five Stages of Fiction Writing

This is my Insecure Writer's Support Group post for August. 

Enjoy...

Just like grieving, writing has stages. Sometimes staying motivated is best accomplished by taking a break to laugh when we'd rather cry.

Stage 1 - Wow! That would make a great story!

We've all experienced this one. Whether the inspiration comes from a dream, a book, or even a short, silly video on AFV, this is the stage of energizing epiphany. Your mind churns with ideas, cranking out a plot faster than you can write it down. You'll make notes on anything, including your skin and your kid's homework assignment, if there isn't any scratch paper around. 

You've got the beginnings of a best seller, and you know it!

Stage 2 - Is plausibility really that important?

This is the stage where epiphany meets reality. You've written enough of your story to discover not everything lines up the way you thought it would. 'If only (insert character name or situation) could just ______." or "If only I knew ______." are common phrases uttered in frustration at this stage. Characters begin to have their own minds, research sources conflict or elude you (or take so much of your time you think you'll be dead before you finish your first draft), and the gods of plausibility (pronounced: readers who write book reviews) already hate your guts. 

Visions of rejection letters and 1-star reviews drive you now.

Stage 3 - The Honeymoon

Woohoo! You have FINALLY typed 'The End' and done a few editing passes. You've fixed the plausibility and polished that prose 'til it shines. You sit a little taller in your chair and bask in the tingly sense of accomplishment reading your story brings. Sometimes you just stare at it with a dreamy smile, wondering if you'll ever be able to love another. You've corrected every error; considered even the minute things your critique partners or editor might nab you on. 

"I bet they'll hardly find anything to mark this time," you tell yourself.

Stage 4 - Throwing your baby to the wolves

Stage 5 - What possessed me to EVER think I could be a writer?

This stage is Kubler-Ross on crack. Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance—you do it all. Multiple times. And not necessarily in that order. 

After you get over your post-crit fit, you fall into a deep depression. You might not open your laptop for days. Even weeks. Then you gather the strength to return to the document.  

Your love for your story won't let you give up. 

You have some chocolate to calm your nerves and read the wolves' suggestions again. Maybe some of them do have merit after all. You toss the ones you disagree with, usually the ones in the minority, and then you consider the others, the ones that you know in your heart are right. 

You edit. 

You alter. 

You polish the prose again.

This time the wolves...er, um, critters...like your story. Maybe you need to make a few more changes, but you're getting there. 

You polish.

You query.

You query some more.

Then, before you know it...