This project has completely stalled…

And it’s making me anxious and sad.

This spring I submitted draft five or six (I’ve lost count) of my first book to a few friends who had never seen it before and to my writing group. After I slashed words in that book by the thousands (see my post If you think there is a problem in your draft), I needed new readers. I felt like it was getting tighter, but the pacing, world-building, character development and action were still out of balance. The overall structure was still not quite right but I was out of ideas on how to change it. I had read it so many times I could no longer see straight. So I put it in their hands and worked on other projects.

I got some feedback from one of my friends, the date of my writing group’s discussion approached, and I read the draft again so it was fresh. Though I still loved Mae and her friends, the plot details and action sequences, I frowned. This project had completely stalled. I still had no new ideas and was feeling a little grumpy about it. I tried to distract myself until more feedback came in. I hoped that these people’s words of wisdom would sink into my mind, heart and soul and spark some new energy and creativity. I truly wanted the next draft to be better, and honestly to be the final draft. I wanted closure. I wanted to say this is as ‘done’ as I can make it, then be bold and query.

But waiting is hard. Slumps are hard. When a project you want to ‘finish’ (haha) is stalled, it’s not easy to be upbeat. So aspiring writers, if you’re in this same season, be kind to yourself. Stamp down negative self-talk then sit down and write something else already until you can breathe new life into that dusty project. Until you get to that day when you can give it a hard push again and move it forward to the next (better) stage of its life.