The Brain Drain And A Deadline
I am going back to bed to work.
Today is the day I start the seventh edit of my eleventh novel.
My eyes are fuzzy, I am doubting every single word I’ve written, and I can’t remember when I last washed my hair.
This is what happens when a deadline looms like a fanged, mean monster.
One would think that after writing ten novels this would get easier.
It does not.
One would think that I would have this writing stuff down, understood, memorized.
I don’t.
One would think that I could toss an imaginary character into the universe, with a twirl and a swirl, and a story would emerge like magic, with cool characters and a throat gripping plot line, and I’d slug down coffee, fill in the blanks and that would be that.
Tra la la.
Never. That has never happened.
In fact, in some ways it’s gotten harder to write books over the years.
It’s a brain boggler (I think I just made that phrase up) to try to think up new characters, issues and sub plots, structures and themes, that are completely different from what you’ve written before.
It’s like trying to pull out your molars with a toothpick.
It’s like trying to stand on your head while tap dancing.
It’s like trying to do a back flip through sludge.
Which is why I’m going back to bed.
To edit. Slash. Delete. Write. Repeat.
I may well lose my mind. My brain might drain out of my head.
Wishing you a happy day from bed.
I’m writing the third book in my Veteran’s Heart series and I can totally relate about feeling brain dead, like my work stinks, and nothing is working as I’d planned. I write, rewrite, and rewrite again. Vicious cycle, I tell ya! And yes, I too have a deadline. For some faster writers it wouldn’t be a problem. But for me, a slooow writer, it’s a huge problem. Oh, if I could just put my brain in gear, squelch the critique in me, and kill the internal and ever-present editor, I might be able to get something done.
I wish you luck. You can do this!
Irene Onorato
1Irene,
I feel your pain.
Silence the inner critic by smashing her down….
2Is this new book connected in any way to one of your previous ones?
3Hi Melissa,
4No, all of my books are stand alones. Not and then I’ll mention a previous character, for example, Cherie Poitras. The attorney. She appears in several books, and I think, although I could be confused, one of my anthology stories. (I am easily confused)