I got off to a better start tonight, and am hopeful that with just a bit more effort I can be where I need to be before the end of the week. Camp NaNoWriMo is not for the faint of heart, that's for sure!
But then, neither is writing.
That's why I want to address something I've found fairly common among my fellow writers: let's call it writing fatigue.
Everybody knows what writer's block is (though some writers say it doesn't exist. I say they just haven't experienced it). When you are hit by writer's block, none of your ideas seem to pan out, the story evaporates, or you just can't seem to get the basic plot elements to line up. Every time you sit down to write, little or nothing happens, and if it's writer's block it will effect nearly any kind of writing you do.
Writing fatigue is different. It's something writers will usually experience somewhere in the middle of a writing project. In my experience, the first quarter-to-third of a book goes along all right, and then: trouble.
****
And now--it's Friday! I didn't mean to stop in the middle of writing this post, but I ran out of time to finish it. The writing struggle is real.
Writing fatigue, or mid-book syndrome, or whatever you call it, has got me in its grips. The trouble is that you have all these plot elements you need to line up so you can get past the middle of the book and start knocking down all your carefully-set dominoes. But getting there can be so hard. It's like trying to run through wet sand, at times. You constantly have to stop writing to assess where you are and where you're going. It's at this point that most writers just want to throw their hands in the air and give up. I bet more writers give up a novel in the middle than at any other writing point.
More next week!
But then, neither is writing.
That's why I want to address something I've found fairly common among my fellow writers: let's call it writing fatigue.
Everybody knows what writer's block is (though some writers say it doesn't exist. I say they just haven't experienced it). When you are hit by writer's block, none of your ideas seem to pan out, the story evaporates, or you just can't seem to get the basic plot elements to line up. Every time you sit down to write, little or nothing happens, and if it's writer's block it will effect nearly any kind of writing you do.
Writing fatigue is different. It's something writers will usually experience somewhere in the middle of a writing project. In my experience, the first quarter-to-third of a book goes along all right, and then: trouble.
****
And now--it's Friday! I didn't mean to stop in the middle of writing this post, but I ran out of time to finish it. The writing struggle is real.
Writing fatigue, or mid-book syndrome, or whatever you call it, has got me in its grips. The trouble is that you have all these plot elements you need to line up so you can get past the middle of the book and start knocking down all your carefully-set dominoes. But getting there can be so hard. It's like trying to run through wet sand, at times. You constantly have to stop writing to assess where you are and where you're going. It's at this point that most writers just want to throw their hands in the air and give up. I bet more writers give up a novel in the middle than at any other writing point.
More next week!
