On Writing : A difficult choice… but the right one! by Alex Hunter

I think you made the right choice, Alex Hunter. I've done it a lot. I shelved a feature script last year because of story problems and finished writing it this year. When I went back to the script, I was able to solve the problems.

Maurice Vaughan Maybe it'll call me back. Maybe it'll get published posthumously!

Hope it gets published and sells a lot of copies while you're alive, Alex Hunter!

Alex Hunter you just called me out! I went out of my comfort zone & wrote a dark novel (and started on the script) - then - the words somehow manifested into reality. I hired a wonderful editor & it was shaping up beautifully, but It freaked me out that some of the things I'd written started to happen. I'm back to comedy.

If you're not "feeling" what you wrote, you're probably right to put it away - for now. But keep it for later - and look at it again - while you're still alive!

Debbie Seagle ha! I may look at it at some point but, honestly, I've written better stuff since!

I’ve kinda shelved my first screenplay Marisol and Mezzaluna, not because I’ve lost faith in it, but because my whole being needs to gather all four energies to rewrite it in a way I’m happy with, primarily the ending. I’ve also decided to shelve Finding Elpis from pitching and table reads because I’ve gotten a bit tired with the overexposure and just want to focus on writing. Considering I want very much to finish the remaining three entries in the new year, I need the total absence of outsider influence.

I shelved a stage script over eight years ago and just this month I pulled it back off the shelf because of a request that it was a perfect fit for. Revised it a tiny bit and sent it off feeling pretty good about it.

Way to go Richard Buzzell !

Richard Buzzell that’s fantastic news!

Not with a screenplay, but with a novel. It was my very first. And it was effing terrible. Most bloated, insane thing I've ever put eyes on.

I loved it so much. My poor little 19 year old self was sure she could save it.

Well, I was WRONG. But man, writing that book taught me so much. You learn more from writing crap and trying to fix it than anything else. That novel convinced me of that. It was, and still is, a mess. I haven't looked at it in 20 years.

If I never see it again, it'll be too soon.

Without never-ending passion, projects cannot survive. I've shelved quite a few things that took massive effort but didn't have the passion engine.

Plough on, the drive is there always, so I always work on things, refine things, and I dont want to give up on anything, thought I do know that one day I may need to.

It may look finished to you now, but If your subconscious says, "It's not fully ripened." listen to it. I promise you'll be doing something mundane someday and a voice in your head will say, "Remember ---? What if you did this?" and you'll know it is time to discover what you brain created while you weren't looking.

Alex, I hope you're doing well. Please get it reviewed and then put it out there. You don't know what someone else wants until you put it in their lap. When you shelve, you're shelving yourself. Listen to the market, listen to your reviews and implement the notes your editor has for you. Don't ever shelve your work. Sometimes, it's the little things that mean so much.

Have you had anybody else look at it and give you feedback. That could help you get over the hump so you can finish it.

Hi Alex, you were so right to do that. It will come back to you.

I have found that giving, both you, and the story, space helps with perspective and motivation.

I believe folk get writers block because they keep trying to move their novel on, when its not the right time.

I have returned to novels in the past and brought them to life, with new angles and elements I wouldn't have considered when I shelved them. I have several shelved currently.

By the way, my first novel is still on the shelf very much like Elle Bolan's. It taught me a great deal, along with the main one for all writers - perseverance.

@Carol I 10000% agree! Sometimes setting your work aside is the right thing to do. You become too close emotionally, you can't read back with fresh eyes on your 900th reread, your brain just stares at the page screaming because to you, it looks fine!

Shelving it for later, to allow time and distance to grow clarity... That's maturity as a writer. Knowing when to let it go rest. It isn't easy, but it is often right. Needed, even.

I tend to agree with you too on writer's block. Forcing it can bring a bout. Some things just need time. Space. And that's okay.

There are other worlds than these, right?

Correct, and other lives to live.... If you write.

Alex Hunter I’m with you, shelve what’s not resonating, trust your intuition and, it doesn’t mean anything less of you as a creative or the project itself. I shelved a novel I edited and sent out this year too, leaving it to rest for now, proud of the learning and the story, but it’s time to leave it to the side.

Juliana Philippi I've decided to treat it as a learning experience.

Lenny Levy thanks. Weirdly it's the only manuscript I've not shared with anyone, which speaks volumes!

Or should that be chapters? LOL

Why don't you seek some 'honest' and professional advice however hard it is to come by .. Maybe it is better than you think it is or maybe not... then you decision will be the right one. Then again you wrote it, so it is your call .... I mean Byron wrote a cupboard play that was never going to be performed and so many others...so it is nothing new.

Radu Popp-vinteller thanks for your perspective. I work with two publishers, so advice wouldn’t be hard to come by. It’s my choice not to share it, as it doesn’t feel good enough, and I guard my author brand quite closely! Perhaps, in due course, I’ll feel differently about it.

Alex, take the leap and share it with somebody. Maybe it's better than you think! I'll look it over and offer comments if you like.

I have several things sitting in files, not because I've lost faith but because I'm not content with how they are working out. I'll get back to them someday. One of them, I will scratch, but approach the idea an entirely different way.

My first full length feature I wrote. I think it has promise- I think it could do well- but it's definitely in the $20-40 million range and I think it is a harder sell than other scripts I've written which are cheaper. I know I'll find a home for it one day- but right now there are other scripts in which to put my focus.