One can always write something. Yes, I have said that before. It bears repeating. If the project at hand really, truly cannot progress, turn the page (or turn back a few pages; my notebook is not the least bit organized) and work on something else.
Of course, this is tricky. Sometimes if one perseveres in looking at the blank page, one finds one is able to progress on the project at hand after all. Sometimes after working on something else, one never returns to the original stalled project.
On the other hand, sometimes projects stall for a reason. Putting your head down and bulling your way through is not always the best way to go. Except when it is.
Oh, here I am working up into that old saw, “To thine own self be true” (old saw as in ancient truism, nothing to do with those hideous movies) (yes, I KNOW some people loved those movies; let’s not get distracted on matters of taste, shall we?).
All of the preceding may have led some readers to deduce that Finish That Novel May is not going as well as I had hoped. This would be an accurate deduction. However, if one inferred that I successfully worked on another project (not just this silly blog post), that, too, would be accurate.
I tried to progress on the novel. Finding that not going so well (or, indeed, going anywhere at all), I turned back a few pages and wrote some more on one of my articles for the June issue of Mohawk Valley Living magazine. I think it’s pretty good. I felt pretty happy with it. So I turned some pages forward, past the stalled novel, and wrote the first four paragraphs of this post.
It being Lame Post Friday, I shall feel free to publish this as my blog post. Since I have proven to myself that I can so write (at least SOMETHING), I shall tackle the novel once again. As always, thank you for playing.
