This is where alot of writers stop. They give up on the book, assume that it isn't going anywhere (because at that point it isn't) and decide that it just isn't working and so they ditch it and start another novel. YOU CAN'T DO THIS!
But I did :D For years and years and years. Not just on novels, either, but on short stories, plays - you name it. Classic lack of confidence.
I have stopped doing that, though - I now have the first drafts of two novels (no serious revisions, yet) and am in the halfway doldrums on a third ;-) I may have to brainstorm where to go next, I may just have to plod along and see whether a path shows up - I have finally realised that it can be one of the best bits of creating if you can relax and stop trying to know what happens next all the time.
It's absolutely true that you have to keep going. You HAVE to get a first draft before you have a hope in hell of getting a finished one.
Muddling through
Date: 2008-05-14 02:23 pm (UTC)But I did :D For years and years and years. Not just on novels, either, but on short stories, plays - you name it. Classic lack of confidence.
I have stopped doing that, though - I now have the first drafts of two novels (no serious revisions, yet) and am in the halfway doldrums on a third ;-) I may have to brainstorm where to go next, I may just have to plod along and see whether a path shows up - I have finally realised that it can be one of the best bits of creating if you can relax and stop trying to know what happens next all the time.
It's absolutely true that you have to keep going. You HAVE to get a first draft before you have a hope in hell of getting a finished one.
It's a hard lesson, but such a valuable one.