It’s becoming clear that my novel doesn’t proceed as smoothly as I hoped – at least, not since I hit the 45000-words mark.
After that there was London, and after London there was a snag, and after the snag there was Easter, with a bunch of relatives and guests descending on us, and after Easter…
Well, after Easter I’ve started writing again, and I find I have to build my momentum all over again.
Sigh.
But this is hardly the worst.
The worst thing is, I can’t seem to decide how the dickens I want to tell this story. Oh, the story itself is clear enough, reasonably outlined, with elbow room for surprises, turns and twists, so all is good on that account – or as good as can be expected for a first draft.
My trouble comes with narrative choices. I’m dithering between two sets – let us say, to make it simple, a fairly straight third person and a combination of first and third – and dithering, and dithering.
I tried both to some length, and thought I had reached some sort of decision, then changed my mind, then changed it again… Right now I’m shifting between one and the other as mood and whim dictate, and every time I change from first to third or vice versa, I have a little eureka moment – until the next shift. Because the bitter truth is that I really like it both ways, and both work well with the story, each has its own set of advantages – and if it were otherwise, I wouldn’t have all this trouble deciding, would I?
And to top it all, a new nice notion for yet another possibility just dawned on me – and it would only apply to sections of the thing, but guess what? I like this one too.
And mind, it’s not like me at all. This is hardly my first novel, and I have had doubts, hard choices and dilemmas before – why, heaps of them – but nothing that a reasonable mix of cogitation and experimenting couldn’t disentangle.
This time… This time, for some reason, it is different. I dither, and dither, and dither, I spend a lot of time on it that could be used in actual writing, it’s maddening, and revision – if and when I make a choice – will be sheer insanity.
So, this is how things stand right now. Shall I get through? Shall I see the light? Shall I get a grip and write ahead already? Find out in the next episode of The Adventures of Clara, the Dithering Scribbler.
Or, if you have any word of wisdom, please share.
Scribblings 
Stop and write something else.
Something short and different.
Something that you have to start after five pm on Friday (that is, tomorrow) and have ready by the end of the weekend.
Something that does not really matter, but you always wanted to write.
In two days and spare change.
Clean up your systems.
And if you want a good laugh, think about me – I’ve 24 hours to deliver my finished manuscript, I’m 15.000 words short of the finish, and I have no idea of how the story will end.
But no, don’t think about me – go write something else, and do it on a tight schedule.
LikeLike
I’ll say, my troubles absolutely pale in comparison to yours…
That said, now I really want to write something – something over the weekend, although it feels a little like yet another form of procrastination… And of course there is a little crowd of little put-aside projects clamouring to be the Weekend Thing. Who thought they could be this shrill and vocal?
I’ll let you know who wins. Thank you for the idea – and break your leg with your deadline.
LikeLiked by 1 person
If it’s possible at all, do something completely new.
But whatever your choice, best wishes.
In other news – we are now 10.000 words from the finish 😉
LikeLike
Oh, but you are doing great! *Cheers like mad.*
But the shrilly vocal ones would like to know how can it be something completely new if I must have always wanted to write it… (They are not keen on surrendering the field to some upstart newcomer, you see…)
LikeLiked by 1 person