Having just finished the crappy (emphasis on crappy) first draft of my second novel I am now required to take a break. The idea is that you have to get away from the work for a spell, get perspective. The best way to do this is to refuse to even look at it "for at least a month" (according to Bethany). This is not an easy task. My ending is so dreadful. I can't wait to change it. Every chapter is lacking important plot-heavy details that would help the story make sense. And character dialogue keeps running through my mind at inconvenient times (they seem to talk more, now, than when I was actually writing).
On a side note I totally caved and re-read my first chapter...it's awful. Worst part? It's the best chapter I have in the book...proving that Bethany was right and I should probably get some perspective.
In the meantime, I am having Writing Withdrawals. I'm dreaming of zombie apocalypses, alien dragons, with breathing tubes, attacking the earth, and feeling cranky. I need my writing fix.
NaNoWriMo is just around the corner.
My thoughts diverge here.
Like a new romance, I worry that putting my novel down and focusing on another project will cool my feelings. That at the end of our separation I will have lost the sound of my characters voices, that I won't be able regurgitate the internal motivation to create--in their world. How do I cling to my novel, while fervently pouring myself into something else? Will working on a new project give me the perspective I need or pour cold water on the fires of creativity?
On the other hand. At least NaNo allows me to write...something. I hate waking up in the morning and having no project. I'm anxious, and empty. I feel more like a writer than I've ever felt, as I come face to face with the hole it has left behind in my soul. NaNo is a writing vacation, an exercise in perspective, that allows me to write.
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