I hate I when I get an idea for a novel. Like oh no here starts the slow sad slip n’ slide to dissapointment again.
You ever been 30,000 words and hundreds of research hours into a project when you realize hey wait a minute. I don’t like this. This is bad.
Ok adding to this though that even though it is extremely relatable, this is a KNOWN thing with professional writing. 10k is often referred to as "having a pot boiling" or "having a stew" - it's the point where you often see an idea coming together and it's exciting! But THEN... 30k-50k is the point where that fun has to start coming together. In theatre, it's usually week 3 of a 5 week rehearsal period where you have to stop talking about the play and really get it all up on its feet and cohesive. In art, it's committing to what are going to be the final visible layers of colour and texture, in sculpture the moment where you're truly at the point of no return with carving out the shape.
It usually feels really bad. Because this is the point it becomes real craft. It's so, so difficult to really be able to identify if it's truly not going to be anything or you're just in the hardest part of the process, and really the only way to know is to... write through it. Write it badly. Or, if you really can't, put it in a drawer and come back to it after a few months of breathing space. Remember, you can fix so much in the edit, but you can't fix nothing!
(I say, fully looking at my latest draft of my book and considering throwing it in the bin. But my editor said exactly this to me, so I'm passing it along.)
this is 100% true. I've written 6 complete novels at this point and every single time around the 40k mark I feel lost in the woods. Nothing seems to be working. I feel awful; I can't sleep. I keep going even though I'm convinced I'm going to fail. And then... It's like leaving a tunnel and getting back out in the sunshine. Stuff starts coalescing. Things that weren't working have obvious fixes. I "can write" again, except I was writing the whole time. It just felt hopeless in the moment. It's not. You just gotta get out of the woods.
Ah yes the Slough of Desponds. Professional author with 13 books, and this is normal for me as well. (Checking for tension issues usually helps!)
Lmao I literally wrote a whole blog post abt it once.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/writing-advice-1-82451675
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It's the 50K-70K mark for me when things start slowing down and I start struggling, but like honestly for people just starting out in trying to COMPLETE like ONE story or ONE book it gets discouraging to hear "just push through it!!!"
Because without inspiration to continue writing at that point is not just hard, it's like hitting your head against a brick wall and expecting it to budge. It won't. So rather than forcing yourself to limp on what is the literary equivalent of a sprained ankle, try instead to take things from a different angle.
Let it breathe, yes, but not in the drop it completely and leave it alone way. Gather inspiration. It doesn't matter if it's rereading what you've written (NOT editing!!!!) to find things to use in later parts of the story (kind of a Chekov's gun kind of deal you weren't intending to use something but can now, or hell, one you mentioned expecting to use later and completely forgot about - been there!!!) or even taking in media that inspired your project or writing in general.
Give your brain a reset. Remind yourself what made you excited about this project in the first place. Sometimes a fire can burn down to embers, but it can be restoked into a flame again with precision and care. You just have to find what works for you. Go over old notes. Plot what you want to do in a future section and consider what you need to do to get there. I'm a pantser meets plantser kind of writer. I don't outline, I plant ideas and sometimes they grow into more stuff later, or I learn about the story and the characters as I'm writing them. But! I still get ideas for later scenes even if they are just a general vibe rather than anything detailed. So I consider what would have to happen to get to that point or make the vibe happen and sometimes that's enough to get me through the slough. Sometimes it's not.
Sometimes I get writer's block for 3 months because I write myself into a horrible corner and can't figure out how to make it better. Then one day, my brain goes "Why are we trying to make it better? What if we made it even worse instead?" BAM 40K more words vomited onto the page outta fuckin nowhere.
It's different for everyone, but sometimes asking yourself the question "Why is my focus slipping here?" and picking apart why the fire is dying down will get you more information on how to spark it into a roaring flame again. Pester your muse!!!! Think of it like the rubber duck of writing. Talk out loud to it if you must. Pretend you are in an interview about your story and you don't have social anxiety and regale your tale with the excitement of someone uncovering pirate treasure for the first time.
If it gets you writing, then it's working. Sometimes writing is having a fake interview with yourself in the shower about your story and that's okay.
