Sylvanna Devlin

No. It’s not losing everything- but that’s a close second.

It’s after you’ve had a break. You can’t get back into it. You can’t settle down.

And our fear whispers

“I will never write again.”

My mother advised just doing something else. I didnt quite get it and would have projects at various stages so I could always be working on something.

But life had other plans.

After a long break I couldn’t get back into any of it. I was frustrated and furious. I used to write daily for hours at a time.

Now nothing connected. I mean for some? Who cares if the plots good it’s a sketch. But yuck.

I picked one and tried. Did okay for a scene or two then.

Meh.

No explanation. Just couldn’t stay focused on it.

So I did something else – and came back. I spent the day doing that and as a result the mess in my apartment is more manageable.

(No one cleans like a procrastinating writer- except a stuck one!)

Some people describe that inability to get back into as writers block.

Oh no. That’s a different beast. But one of them does contain that fear.

“I will never write again”

Your bum is in chair. You’re staring at the same sentence and might be suffering from lethologica yourself because while some argue “there’s no perfect word” that’s not entirely true. Some words mean what they do and are the only one. You can’t rewrite the whole sentence but if you want that one you want the word it takes jumping round a thesaurus to find.

Please keep in mind most popular book reviews are by men and somehow, magically, a character just as capable as you but is indeed a separate creation is a “Mary Sue” and blown off as which fulfillment.

Sod that.

Write your strong, female protagonist. You’ll do better at it than most men and then roll your eyes when they know so little about women they can’t even recognize a good character who is a woman.

I don’t know how to address the feeling when you lose your own work. If it’s your thing you’ve been working on for x amount of time it’s gutting.

I don’t have the experience on commenting on your work on top of another’s. Writing is supposed to be personal and a little solitary. It’s not a group effort.

But I imagine the pain to be just as intense. Because you’ll be afraid you needed that work.

No. You didn’t. You’ll never be satisfied as a writer using someone else’s work that way. But boy does it take some experimentation to find your style (s)

I have one per book series. Just different kinds of books seemed to fit with different voices. But I am unusual in that and there is nothing wrong with digging in to a preferred style and genre.

Just start with your own. Even if you haven’t figured out the plot yet.

That’s a perfectly normal phase.

(Remember all characters have desires, some competing, and your plot will be the conflict that gets in the way – complicated a few times)

Get to know your characters. They’re separate opinionated sods who talk back. Which every writer understands and everyone else asks if you’re feeling okay.

While I have you. If you write once a year during NaNoWriMo, that’s okay. At least you know how difficult it is to sling together singing sentences!

Now it’s difficult for other reasons than the attitudes of some Professionals.

You might know it’s a subconscious rip off. Or the plot is going nowhere. You can’t make the words do what you want. You can’t find your voice.

So there’s the other whisper of our fears.

“I can’t do this”

Look, those are all phases all writers have to get through regardless of potential. I’m sure eyes are rolled at my mantra

“Practice, Patience, Perseverance.”

It’s so hard because that phase can be a long one.

Writing is hard.

So if you’re halfway finished. November is over and you don’t know what to do because you just wrote quickly?

Put it in a drawer for a week or two, or even months. Pull it out and use that as your starting sketch.