On being a slug

I hate slugs. They are slimy little nasty creatures. Recently, we had to deal with a slug invasion and the kiddos decided to make pets of them. ICK!

However, today I decided that I am one.

It seems to me that slugs generally go after easy pickings and then they go away. Which is what I've done today.

A little over a year ago, I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't start a new story until I'd mastered rewriting. So far, I've been very good with it, aside from some minor infractions involving a few quick outlines so I wouldn't forget the idea. But tonight, I critted a piece for a friend that reminded me of one I have waiting to be rewritten, and I realized that I have no sense of objectivity when it comes to my own writing. Her book has the EXACT problems this one had. I finally permanently shelved mine because I couldn't figure out how to fix them.

And there I was, sitting at my computer with two hours of writing time left on the clock for the evening, and I chose to be a slug. I wrote the easy thing. Yes, my friends, I started a new book. A sort of "fly in the face of what Krista said sells, but not really" book. Or at least I hope that's what it is. Actually, what Krista said is that our readers want small town heroines they can relate to. Well, I'm doing the small town setting thing, but my heroine... well, I don't want to say who I'm basing her off of, because I don't want to get sued, but think of celebutantes in the news, and there ya go. My heart just breaks for these women, making incredibly poor choices, and I want so badly for them to be redeemed and see the truth. So, since I can't walk up to them and smack them, I figured I'd make a story up that redeems them. :) So a semi-unrelatable heroine, since none of us will ever experience Hollywood, and yet, relatable, because I'm bringing her to a small town and putting her smack-dab in the middle of humanity.

And I am having a TON of fun! It's 1 a.m. and I don't want to stop writing! So I won't. Because if I go to bed, I'll just lay awake thinking about the story, and at some point, That Man will get irritated with me and tell me to go to my computer. :)

However, I'm still a slug. It's so much easier to write something new than to figure out how to fix what I already have. Maybe once I'm settled in the new house. I think I can handle it then. Unless, of course, I'm too engrossed in this new story.