Sometimes when you write, do you sense the words “fighting” you? The story gets bogged down and so do you, and there it sits, unresolved. Some call it writer’s block, but I think certain stories just naturally run out of gas before we’re done with them. Yet, we refuse to release them and let them die a natural death.
I bet most writers have stashed away piles of started, half-finished and “simmering” manuscripts we intended to get back to but never did. We fall in love with our own prose too easily. The thought of tossing words out is too painful to bear. We swear we can salvage and can use these orphaned words someday, somewhere. We are the ultimate narcissists and the true hoarders.
We carry old words fondly clutched to our hearts like wilting, long-stemmed roses. I envision a bride holding a rose at the altar, waiting for the return of a beau who never truly existed.
I’ve been lucky to only suffer this a few times; once I quit writing as I kept killing off characters, which had not been the plan. When starting a novel, I have a pretty good reason for writing it. But that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily going to be published. It might just be for the exercise.
I agree that wrangling over prose isn’t always best. I love the last sentnece of this post; some things just aren’t meant to be. Best to let them go gracefully. 🙂
I think I would be rather alarmed too if my characters started dropping like flies! Especially in a romance, that might not work too well unless they somehow find love amidst the Black Death 🙂