Day 26 – The Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul

It’s been a struggle.

Not only has time (or lack thereof) been a factor, but I’m starting to get a little bogged down in the storyline. I’m trying not to let this bother me, just pushing through and letting come what may. This is working somewhat, though on several occasions I’ve just stopped what I was writing and started on a new tangent to keep things moving (somewhat) forward.

I keep reminding myself that right now, the point is to develop the Voice and a rhythm, and flesh out the characters a bit. But I can’t help feel a little discouraged. And of course, those pangs of self-doubt are rushing to fill the gaps of my once-solid storyline.

This is nothing new. From what I understand, the middle of the book is the average novelists bugaboo. Beginnings at Point A are strong, and at least a vague idea of the end at Point Z are (usually) in mind. But anywhere from G to Q, things can slow down, focus can be lost, momentum can stall.

The easy answer is to “stay positive” but that’s easier said than done — we all know that. In lieu of that, I’m going to fall back on “just keep putting in your hour per day”. Which I have been doing — even today, despite a whirlwind of events (I am writing this from the press box at the Fort William Gardens, where I’m covering the Thunderwolves and the Ottawa Gee Gees). As mentioned in yesterday’s post, I didn’t get a full hour in and I couldn’t make it up today. But tomorrow should work.

Until then,

~Graham

(Novel Writing Totals)

Hours Today: 1
Words Today: 1,420
Hours Total: 25.5
Words Total: 36,527