2. Radical, this one. Don’t care. It’s like sketching. Don\u2019t even form proper sentences; words and fragments of sentences are OK. Sketch out action, dialogue, plot lines. I\u2019m not someone who draws or diagrams, but I guess if I was, I\u2019d do this now. Set the timer. God, this feels hard\u2026<\/p>\n
3. Re-read. Start at the very beginning. Re-read and revise as I go, trying to immerse myself again in what I loved enough to start the project. I\u2019ll often realise with surprise that it\u2019s OK. A first draft, and rough, but OK. I can fall in love with the story again. I can hear ‘the voice’… and get back on the writing horse.<\/p>\n
4. Take a break. A week is good. Two is better. Don\u2019t look at it, think about it, worry or fret. Come back to it refreshed and ready to go.<\/p>\n
5. Wait it out. Patience is a virtue, so they say.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In an essay called The Grumpy Struggle<\/em> (yes!) Wood writes:<\/p>\n In the midst of this gloom, to create is an act of enlargement, of affirmation. It lights a candle in the darkness, offering solace, illumination \u2013 maybe even the possibility of transformation \u2013 not just for the maker but for the reader or viewer, which is to say all of us. Art urges us to imagine and inhabit lives other than our own, to be more thoughtful, to feel more deeply, to challenge what we think we already know. Art declares that we contain multitudes, that more than one thing can be true at once. And it gives us a breathing space, in which we can listen more than talk, where we can attentively question our own beliefs. It gives us a place in this chaotic world in which to find the sort of meaning that only arises out of the stillness, deep within our quiet selves. <\/em><\/p>\n If I can think that even though it\u2019s only a silly kid\u2019s book, it is also a candle \u2013 a possible candle – \u00a0for some kid, I can wait it out. The water will rise, the boat will float, and my little floating craft will start bobbing along the river again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Reader: beware. This is a big ol\u2019 whinge. I\u2019m around 27,000 words which is half way, or maybe even a bit more, through a new novel. Up until the last thousand words, it\u2019s been \u2013 if not exactly a breeze; … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/veritysparks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/41jXP08HOpS._SY344_BO1204203200_QL70_ML2_.jpg\")
<\/a>I am reading Charlotte Wood\u2019s The Luminous Solution<\/em>. I like finding out about how other writers work, how they see their own process, their thoughts about the art and craft of making stuff up, their thoughts about creativity and literature and art. It\u2019s the right book at the right time; it\u2019s helping me keep my courage up. Courage? I feel like giving up at times. It\u2019s just a silly kid\u2019s book, says a negative voice inside my head. It\u2019s nothing; there are too many books in the world anyway, and it won\u2019t be missed. Why do you bother? Why do you care so much?<\/p>\n