“The road to Hell is paved with works-in-progress.”
— Philip Roth
This line really struck a chord for me, since I’ve been struggling with my WIP for the past several months. I finally broke down and went back to basics–checked out a book an author friend loaned me–Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain. It has been a big help, as was an online article The Hero’s Journey–A Complete Guide.
(file:///C:/Users/scifi/Documents/Nibirun%20Invasion/The%20Hero%E2%80%99s%20Journey%20%E2%80%93%20A%20Complete%20Guide.html)
If you’ve written several books, as I have, you reach a point where you think you know what you’re doing, or at least, you believe you should know what you’re doing. Writing is not a talent, it’s a skill, and it’s a learning process. I suspect that if you ever stop learning about the craft, ever stop finding new ways to intrigue your reader, your writing will begin to suffer.
I think I’ve finally broken through my current writing block, and now writing is fun again. The moral of my experience is–don’t give up. Keep plugging, read a “how to” book, get feedback from friends. If you’re like most writers, your muse won’t let you give up completely, so use that to your advantage.
(image by Davanah on Pixabay).
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