This is the big question looming over me.
Since mid-January, I have written almost nothing on my novel. And I don’t really know why. Scrivener is always open on my computer. I have time. I know exactly what happens next. I’m at the climax, after all. But I’m not writing.
Part of it might come from doubts and fears, I’m sure. I’m realizing that I have a couple of problems in the story that need some serious revision. And that makes me worry that the whole thing is worthless. (It’s not.)
That leads to the second issue: revision work. I know that there will be literally months of revision work on this and it’s intimidating. Since NaNoWriMo, the web/Twitter world related to writing has been all about revisions and the more I read and think about it, the more intimidated I am. Part of me is worried about how much work I’ll have to do AFTER I finish my first draft.
So why is that stopping me?
I don’t know.
I have some kind of mental block here that I’m struggling to overcome. Today, I wrote a character’s full background story, so that’s something. And I wrote this blog post. But I haven’t written a word on the novel itself.
I know this needs to change. Maybe by posting this here, I’ll motivate and/or embarrass myself into finishing.
R.A.S.P.
I will have a good bit of free time in a couple weeks (I’ll be in Texas for almost 3 weeks before leaving for Japan on Mar. 15th), so if you want another set of eyes to read through and give some opinions, I should be available. Maybe you are hesitating because you’re worried your revisions on what you’ve already written will force you to rewrite the sections you’ve been putting off. Perhaps going back and doing some revision would better prepare/motivate you to write the climax and conclusion to the novel.
timfrankovich
Thanks for this. You’ve given me a target and a goal. That helps a lot.