Where's the Colour?

Remember that old commercial? The one where the old lady opens her chain restaurant hamburger and asks in a gravelly voice, "Where's the beef?"

That's how I've been feeling lately, but instead of the beef I've been missing the colour.

I've been working on some new scenes for the second book. I had put the manuscript aside for awhile as I pondered some plot problems but I'm back on track now, comfortable enough with my new direction to have resumed churning out words to fill the empty spaces.

No. My problem now is a lack of COLOUR.

You know what I mean?

Characters that lie limp on the page like black and white stick people. Even my main cast seem lackluster. Signy is humdrum, Grace can't think of a thing to say and the complexTracker is about as dry as dry can be. He might as well be reading from the phone book.

And the extras? Those important little characters that fly in and out of scenes, not only as plot devices but also to add that hint of spice a scene sometimes requires? Even those guys and gals are leaving me cold.

My beats are repetitive and predictable - As a matter of fact, if you catch me writing, 'He scrubbed a hand over his balding pate'  or 'Barely suppressing a giggle' one more time, please shoot me.

And the settings? Humpf. That's where I'm really falling flat. Oh sure, I stick in the sights and the sounds and the smells and tastes but what churns out is like a reproduction of a bad reproduction. When I go back and try to fix what I've done, I only seem to make things worse. Kind of like that sad little painting of Jesus that elderly Italian woman tried to fix then and turned into a dreadful cartoon.

Okay. Enough complaining. Obviously, something is missing. It might have something to do with the phrase I used earlier in this post  - the bit where I said I was 'churning out words to fill the empty spaces'.

Sure, I'm in the process of pumping out words and sometimes, that is not a bad thing. Sometimes, it is just as important to keep the wheels greased, the story moving forward, the word count satisfied. I understand that.

But, I think there comes a time, when churning out words, while satisfying one's bum glue requirements, no longer feels good - especially when the product is so bland.

So, back to the basics I go. Yup - Time to revisit those two classic "How To" books that work for me.

Stephen King's "On Writing" and Elizabeth George's "Write Away."

Here's hoping that these tried and true writers will once again show me the way to that world of colour I have been so missing.

Help me remember how to turn this....












Into this....