Monday, January 24, 2011

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

I was very quiet last week because I was trying to power through my latest draft. I have two wonderful readers to critique for me, but I am not ready.

Why?

Because this is a play-by-play of my week:

  1. This book is SO GOOD! I can't believe I wrote this. It's awesome!
  2. Hmm, that section is weak compared with the end, so I need to rewrite.
  3. Well, it's not the best book, but it's still pretty good.
  4. Ooh, just thought of another character that I need to add.
  5. I wonder what will happen if I change this whole section.
  6. Oh, that was bad. That made it much worse!
  7. I'm never going to get this finished.
  8. You know, this is not really a very good story. 
  9. My book is kinda boring.
  10. Maybe I'll do better with the next book I write...
And so on and so on, until yesterday I managed to work on it for about 4 minutes. Not my goal for the day. But there was a big football game on TV, and I was a little busy watching the Steelers win. (I know - excuses, excuses.)

I'm back to a solid footing between #2 and #3 right now - not bad for a Monday morning. And tonight I can dream of the day that I'll return to #1. But I wonder - will I ever feel that good about it again? Or will I always see the faults, the what-could-have-beens?

The advice I keep finding on various blogs leads back to the same conclusion: JUST KEEP MOVING FORWARD. I can't let my doubts paralyze me. I need to get this first book out the door and online, then work on the second and the third, and so on. Keep moving forward...

PS - Happy Birthday to my sister, Amy! 
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2 comments:

  1. Keep moving forward. Don't look back. It's just like when you remodel a room in your home yourself, it turns out GREAT but you & only you will see the flaws. Others will only see them if you point them out :)

    Michelle

    BTW, go STEELERS. I was at the game & it was soooooooo much fun.

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  2. Michelle,

    I'm a little late getting back to you, but you are so sweet and so supportive - I really do appreciate it. And I can only imagine how incredible the game was! We had a blast watching the Steelers win at home. Talk to you soon -

    - Alison

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