The writing life can feel like a series of setbacks and restarts. You might write a draft in a glorious fever dream only to one day wake up from that dream and, looking at your work in a newly sober light, realize it's not the work of genius it once seemed to be. What do you do? I'm hoping you see the draft as thumbnail sketch and that you pick up where you left off to either sketch further or revise.

That realization of the quality of your draft and the steps you take next--that's a restart. A new beginning.

You might have finished a piece--an article, an essay, a book even. You might have sold it and celebrated. And, look, here comes the spark of a new idea. You get out your notebook or fire up your laptop, and you begin again. Nothing is polished, everything is half-baked. The only advantage you have is that you remember what it's like to go through this process and what it means to really finish something. Still, I've heard many writers say that starting over with a new project can feel as uncertain as when they were first starting out. (Does it comfort you as it does me to know this?)

This process of starting and restarting, scrapping material and rewriting, is common to all writers. This is largely private, invisible work. Other practitioners--athletes, painters, even medical professionals--practice and perfect their craft in more public ways. Athletes have their gyms and their fields and tracks, painters have sketches and studies lining their studio or living room walls, doctors have their dissections and practicums. Cameras can follow these people around as they learn to be at the top of their game. But a writer working out her story would make for a very dry documentary indeed.

Our work is interior work. A work of translation, distilling the ineffable into the effable--and making it, somehow, enjoyable for the reader. It's such a feat, and I admire you for your effort, for your courage in returning to the page over and over again.

If you find yourself in a slump, maybe this perspective from author Sierra Greer will take the pressure off: "I write everyday. And I consider that a win even if it doesn’t add up to something that eventually could be a novel." Sometimes our intended final result looms so mightily that it crushes our creativity.

💡 What if you approach writing as play? See what you can build on the page. See what you can describe. Find out what kinds of characters you can bring to life. Don't give a thought how these things fit (or not) into your novel or memoir. Imagine yourself a child playing with blocks or legos. See what castles you can build.

Worth a Click

​The Importance of Interiority in Novels and Memoirs​

​How is the media you regularly consume supporting your book?​

​Why Pre-order “Campaigns” Rarely Work--Really interesting! We hear about how important pre-orders are to authors, publishers, and bookstores, but here a literary publicist makes a compelling case why that may not be.

​Should You Self-Pub or Trad Pub? "It’s more about what you want to do or not do that should help you decide between traditional and self-publishing."

​Literary fame is fickle and fleeting​

The most important thing is that you keep writing. I hope you do ❤️