I've talked about "jinxes" a lot in my blogs posts, mainly whenever I withhold information about whatever I'm working on. It seems that a lot of writer's have certain superstitions. Some won't let anyone read the first draft until it's finished. Some won't write it down in a notebook for fear of losing it (man do I know what that feels like!). Maybe they even insist that it's bad luck to write with anything except for their special "writing" pen. And that's okay. Superstitions are okay because they are part of a writing routine.
Think about it. Each individual's quirks didn't just show up one day. They developed over time as events cement more ideas into our minds. I wasn't always so afraid of jinxes. But as more and more stories started than stopped two pages in I found a reason. I'm not saying it's the right reason, I'm just saying it works for me. Every Start- Stop Story happened after I had told one of my friends my great idea. I would sketch out characters and who would fall in love with who and possible ideas for the second book. It was all premise - no plot. So then I worked on the plot, sometimes to no avail. You know those books that have some sort of story going on, but the writer mainly just talks about relationships and love triangles? I had a lot of those books. By the time I was done outlining and talking to all my friends I was bored with the story and ready to move on to my next "brilliant" story idea.
I blamed me talking to my friends. I was trying to entice them to read it. But I do not have many book-friendly friends, and there was nothing to read anyway. Because I talked about it before it was written, before the plot was chosen. I killed every idea prematurely for a year like this. Now I don't even want to go back and look at my so-called "good" ideas. That's how my jinxes came to be. I can't talk to anyone except my Pre-Beta or else the story will die. I don't know if it holds true for every single story (I had multiple writing problems back then) but I sure as hell am not going to test it out. For right now I'm content to live in fear of the horrible jinxes and just hope they don't find my new babies.
I would like to point out that while the jinxes look quite evil, they are sweet when you keep them away from other people and enjoy Earl Grey Tea. That's all.
Hope you all like my attempt (ahem) at a more serious post. It might not happen again for a while so cherish it. Night all!
-Jessie
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