I'm suffering from an interesting affliction: novelist's block.
Never heard of it? Well, neither had I until recently, when I discovered that I could write almost anything except a continuation of my latest novel. Short stories? Flash fiction? The odd (very odd) poem? No problem. Even the occasional song, believe it or not. But a novel? Nosirree. The keyboard's gone cold.
Part of my problem is that I'm easily distracted. Short fiction suits my lack of concentration rather well, although even a decent-length piece can be challenging unless I'm in the right mood. But I probably have enough to publish a collection, even allowing for one or two being dropped out by an editor.
The Blogger Who Came in from the Cold hit the bookstores only last week. But while that book had been going through the editorial and cover design sausage machine, I'd been writing its successor... until it hit the buffers.
So what next? Ironically I covered this very subject myself in a blog a couple of years ago. But that assumed a general writer's block, not a problem with something specific. I suppose that, in the end, there'll be nothing for it but to lock myself in a room and grind it out. But I also know what that means: it means that I'll have to start all over again once I'm finished. Because a novel must flow seamlessly, carrying the reader along with it. And if it's not doing that for me, the author, it's hardly going to do that for anyone else.
Don't expect that new novel any time soon.
Never heard of it? Well, neither had I until recently, when I discovered that I could write almost anything except a continuation of my latest novel. Short stories? Flash fiction? The odd (very odd) poem? No problem. Even the occasional song, believe it or not. But a novel? Nosirree. The keyboard's gone cold.
Part of my problem is that I'm easily distracted. Short fiction suits my lack of concentration rather well, although even a decent-length piece can be challenging unless I'm in the right mood. But I probably have enough to publish a collection, even allowing for one or two being dropped out by an editor.
The Blogger Who Came in from the Cold hit the bookstores only last week. But while that book had been going through the editorial and cover design sausage machine, I'd been writing its successor... until it hit the buffers.
So what next? Ironically I covered this very subject myself in a blog a couple of years ago. But that assumed a general writer's block, not a problem with something specific. I suppose that, in the end, there'll be nothing for it but to lock myself in a room and grind it out. But I also know what that means: it means that I'll have to start all over again once I'm finished. Because a novel must flow seamlessly, carrying the reader along with it. And if it's not doing that for me, the author, it's hardly going to do that for anyone else.
Don't expect that new novel any time soon.
Gordon Lawrie
