Difficult Drafts

My current WIP is being difficult. Again. I don't know what it is, but something about this story just feels off. It feels unnatural and I can't seem to escape it. I'm still writing it, I'm determined to finish this draft, but I just feel like it's crap.

I know that all first drafts suck. I get that. But maybe I don't. See, I have this problem, that maybe I shouldn't admit in a public forum like a blog. But here goes anyway: I've only ever completed a draft of one novel. Now that I think about it, I may have admitted that before, but here it is again. Seriously. One.I realized a while ago that, as a writer, this is a VERY BAD THING.

It's not that I don't have more ideas. I have LOTS of ideas. There are at least six more fantasy worlds that I have stories started in and at least two contemporary stories that I've started. But I've never finished any of those.

Now, with the realization a while ago that I was, in fact, a character-first writer, I might have struck upon why I've never finished another novel length project. I'm not so great in the plot department. I get these great characters and these great worlds, but they don't seem to have plots to match them. It's frustrating, but I'm hoping to fix that in the near future.

Anyway, back to my current problem-child. I really want to finish this story, but there's something about it that feels all disconnected, like the pieces of the world don't quite fit together. Like every time I get to thinking about the way the magic in the world works, or the ins and outs of why my antagonist did the things he did and how my characters figure it out, I get frustrated because the pieces just don't quite fit right. I feel like one of my other stories would work SO much easier. I blame the difficulties I'm having on this being one of my "newest" ideas, telling myself that I haven't spent enough time stewing over the world, but I'm not sure that's true.

Still, I'm writing it. Maybe I'll really love it when I'm done. I hope so. Cause the idea's pretty nifty. I just need the nitty gritty bits to work together.

Progress update: so far I've finished 27 of my 51ish scenes. So I'm over half-way finished with the scenes. Yea!

My Obsession with TV Shows

Here's a secret that you might not know about me: I love television. Love it.

Okay so I don't love it as much as I love reading, and I totally freak out more about not having a book to read more than I do about nothing good being on TV, but still, I love TV.

Let me clear though, I do not like what passes as reality TV. In fact I loathe reality TV. The times I've gotten sucked into a reality TV show have been very few and very far between (it's been two or three years since the last time I watched a full new season of a reality show) and i plan to keep it that way. They are just annoying to me. I don't get reality shows. Now, this could be because they blatantly masquerade as being real when everyone knows they aren't and that rankles my (overly) honest tendencies. Or it could be that I just don't find them entertaining. Or it could be a combination of the two. But all that is beside the point.

To return from the rabbit trail, I love good non-reality TV. You know, the shows that have really good characters, great (or fairly good) writing, quick wit, engaging storylines. And I'm a sucker for a good romantic sub-plot (I've been pulled into more than one not-so-great shows by those). There is something about watching good acting, hearing great dialogue, and seeing intriguing stories unfold that just draws me in and makes me want to watch and rewatch episodes. Good storytelling gets me every time.

Example: recently I discovered Grimm. I didn't watch the first season when it aired last year because it just sounded weird to me, sort of gimmicky. And one thing I really dislike is a gimmick (which may be another reason I eschew reality shows. They're all just big gimmicks). Also I did not realize that it combined two of my favorite things. But I was at the store the other day and the DVD of season one had come out, so I decided, eh why not? My reaction: "Fairy tales and crime solving? Awesome!"

See, I'm a huge fan of fairy tales and of character driven crime solving shows. They are two of my favorite things as far as entertainment goes. I don't know how many re-done fairy tales I've read. Tons. If I find one, I gobble it up. And one of my writing dreams has been to write a re-done fairy tale series. It's one of my many projects in development. And don't get me started on procedurals. For a long time, the only type of TV I watched were procedurals of some kind or another (Now my viewing palate has expanded a bit, but I still love crime shows). So discovering a show that manages to creatively combine those two things was kind of mind blowing.

Overall the storytelling is what really pulled me into the show. It takes a base of fairy tales and twists it and spices it up in such an interesting way that I can't get enough. It doesn't hurt that the acting isn't horrible and the writers have a decent sense of humor. Still, it's the story and the characters that have really pulled me into this show. I can't wait to see what happens next.

So what shows have pulled you in recently (or not so recently)? What's your favorite part of the shows you watch?