I Write

I keep thinking about

The novel I may never write.

The scraps of stories

stuck inside books.

The scenes spinning

in my head.

The flashes of images

that may never see

the light of day.

The wasted time spent

Analyzing those images

Criticizing my thoughts

Even before they could

be shared.

Self doubt

Masked as

Self assessment.

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greenmountaingal · 70-79, F

I hope you will not mind some writing advice.

Just create a schedule and write the novel.

Give yourself permission to write badly. Make your main purpose to finish it, not to be perfect and brilliant.

Focus on your reader instead of your feelings of self-doubt. That is the dividing line between amateur and professional writing; amateurs write to express their feelings while professionals write for the reader.

Work in short sessions. If you were to write just one page a day, you'd probably complete your rough draft novel in a year or less.

Don't write until you are burned out. Quit while you're ahead, and end a session while you are feeling "inspired" instead of burned out. Make notes on all the ideas thrashing around in your brain so you will look forward to getting started again and will have a lot of ideas to grab onto when you do start again. Otherwise, you will have trouble getting started again and the project will tend to stall.

One more comment: You will not have time in your life to write a novel. No one really does. You will have to make time somehow. Carving out a small amount of time under imperfect conditions will be what you will need to do.

I wish you the best with this. May your novel be one of the few that actually gets written...and maybe even read.

Sorrowfulgaze · 46-50, M

@greenmountaingal Permission to write badly is important. Thank you for all of your comments. They are all appreciated. I do my best to write the ideas down and carve out the time to write. But it is not always easy as you know. I hope that it is written too. I still have a chance right? :)

greenmountaingal · 70-79, F

@Sorrowfulgaze Finished is better than perfect. As long as you're alive there's a chance, of course. I hope you write it.

Sorrowfulgaze · 46-50, M

A fair point, I still have more than a few years left in me. :)