Angst and Godiva Chocolate
I think I need to get into couples therapy. I’m really beginning to hate Francesca and Thomas. Well, maybe hate is a strong word, maybe it’s resent. I know that I am not experiencing anything that a million other authors haven’t already felt before me, but I don’t care about them. This is about me. The Sister’s are still agonizing over the 1st three chapters of Seeing Love Clearly, and now we’re dragging other people down with us.
Francesca is a drama queen that insists on making her life more difficult than it needs to be, and Thomas’ psychoses keep changing. Something definitive needs to happen to these people and their lives. I need to be rescued from this nonsense.
I’m sure that you’re reading this and have no idea what I’m talking about at all, but neither do I. That’s really the point, isn’t it? The plot and it’s issues are swirling about me in a hypnotic mess. I’ve read it and considered it from every angle. I’ve second guessed myself until I’m not sure of anything anymore.
My Honey, the musician, keeps telling me that at some point you have to decide that you’re done and quit messing with it. How do you know when that is? How do you know when it’s pudding and not just a bunch of ingredients?
I’m feeling very angsty, like I’m thirteen and the boy I like doesn’t notice me. It’s time to break into the birthday Godiva again. I’ll be 9,000 pounds by the time this book is done.
Sometimes, when you get to the point you’ve described here, the best thing a writer can do is step back from the project altogether. As anxious as you are to send it out, it sounds like what you need is a fresh perspective, and you can’t get that when you’ve been mired in it for months. I’d say to put it away for a month, or better, several months, then look at it again with fresh eyes and emotions. The results can be miraculous, and well worth the wait.