When you work on a project like a novel, the trick is to keep coming back to it. Frequently. Hopefully, every day around the same time.
To do that you have to allow yourself to not be intimidated by the scope of the story or waylaid by some of the things life can throw at you. And just so you know, the former is not a problem for me. I actually can stare at a page (and not type a single word) for a couple of hours as the blood seeps from my brain. It’s the latter that sometimes stumps my ability to actually put words in a straight line so they make sense in the story.You know, how sometimes you just want to start screaming “Why?Why?Why?Why?”
Always getting no clue. But that is absolutely how life is.
Sorry, life is not full of answers. But it does have a way of presenting endless questions. It sucks, I know. So if you’re out there wondering “WHY?”, you’re not alone. There are innumerable hordes of us suckers out there wondering where the truck came from that left us with our hearts and brains oozing out on the street. Not all of us are trying to write a novel though. For us its a special problem. We spend an inordinate amount of time in our skulls anyway.
So if you are trying to work on your masterpiece, just realize that tomorrow is another day. YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS ONE. This day. This minute. Get mindful about right now. And for the love of God don’t trust your feelings. The human heart is a lying bastard. I promise you that’s a universal truth. Nowhere is it written that you must believe your thoughts (read feelings). It could be part of the reason you’ve been at 17000 words for the last six weeks. Believe me I understand.
Sometimes you just gotta pull a David Farragut on that stinkin “Why?” and say “Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead.”
And sometimes — it works.
Be well. Keep at it.
Lee
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Lee Stephens ~ Novelist 
Thanks for the encouragement(?), hahaha! Lee, I’ve been banging my head on the door of two books for what seems like forever. One is such an emotional journey for me, I get hung up with the emotions and it’s difficult to write with tears in your eyes. The other is somewhat easier, but because they are true stories, it’s sometimes not THAT easy. Still, I shall continue on “putting words in a straight line so they make sense,” as you said above.
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Thank you so much Nancy. I can get tangled up in a scene with a lot of emotion pouring into it. It feels like it takes longer to write but the scene seems to come out worth the extra time.
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Some great th0ughts here and I can sympathise with every one of them even though I don’t have the patience to work on a whole book!
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Bill, Thank you for your insight. I know what you mean. I have to go to a “special place” in my own skull or I can still start freaking out. Ha. Now my secret is out.
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