It’s late at night and there are twenty other story ideas that are currently running around in my head instead of the story I should be working on.
These ideas are impinging on the current story, and somehow are finding their way onto the page.
Writing, cursing, deleting, re-writing, deleting, cursing.
I’m working on the latest book and it is not going well. I don’t have writer’s block, I think it is more a case of self-doubt, laced with a healthy dose of second-guessing. It’s why I can’t concentrate.
It’s why I’m thinking about the next story and not staying on track.
This leads me to be over critical of what I have written and much pressing of the delete key.
Then …
only to realize that an action taken in haste can be regrettable, and makes me feel even more depressed when I realize the deletions are irrecoverable.
Damn.
That is not supposed to happen because the great God Microsoft told me that auto save was running.
But, it appears even God’s can’t save deleted data if it is ‘in between’ saves.
I think I’d be happier in a garret somewhere channeling van Gogh’s rage.
Lesson learned – don’t delete in haste or anger or when tired, save it to a text file so it can be retrieved when sanity returns.
I was not happy with the previous start. Funny about that, because until a few weeks ago I thought the start was perfect.
What a difference a week makes or is that politics?
Perhaps I should consider adding some political satire.
But I digress…
It seems it’s been like that for a few weeks now, not being able to stick to the job in hand, doing anything but what I’m supposed to be doing. I recognize the restlessness, I’m not happy with the story as it is, so rather than getting on with it, I find myself writing words just for the sake of writing words.
Any words are better than none, right?
So I rewrote the start, added about a hundred pages and now I have to do a mass of rewriting of what was basically the whole book.
But here’s the thing.
This morning I woke up and looked at the new start, and it has inspired me.
Perhaps all I needed was several weeks of teeth gnashing, and self doubt to get myself back on track.
And, perhaps that first cup of coffee in the morning!
Sounds like you’re anticipating perfection and in doing so, your mind tends to wander, seeing this and feeling that.
Here’s a suggestion you may want to give a go; Set an alarm ahead of time with the anticipation of writing—nothing in particular, just that you plan on writing. Half an hour before you write, take a good long look at yourself in the mirror. Smile at yourself and imagine all the information, experiences, and magic others will get from your post. Then, after only a few moments of this, meditate. Not necessarily long, unless you want to, but this will undoubtedly calm your mind. Just remember, the first few times, it may be taxing, but be patient. Within a week, if you follow these guidelines, there will be a tremendously huge variance to your writing.
And in case you want to try it out, here’s a freebie: https://www.balanceapp.com/referral-text
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