Writing's a funny business at times. You get a perfectly good idea, sit down and scribble for weeks or months, and then the doubts creep in. You shove the thing back in its folder, put it to one side for weeks or months more, and then quite suddenly, when you weren't even thinking about that piece of work, inspiration strikes.
This happened to me recently with the novel I started earlier in the year, set in the Lake District. I'd written about half of it when my confidence began to slip. Was it gripping enough? Wasn't it too similar to some of my other books? I tried to ignore all those annoying little voices, but gradually the writing ground to a halt and in the end I put the whole thing back on the shelf.
Then, a couple of days ago, I had one of those blinding moments of absolute clarity, when I realised what was wrong with the novel, what needed to be hoicked out, and what I could use to replace it with. Of course!! Of course... it'll mean ten times as much work, a load of rewriting, and simply tons of extra research before I can even put fingernail to keyboard. But I think it'll be worth it, and I'm sure I'll be much happier with the book as a result.
Working on: Got Ghosts
Words today: 1420
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