Image by Steve Johnson from Pixabay

I’m an author, or at least that’s what I tell people who ask what I do with myself since I retired. That’s true, if you care to stretch the definition almost beyond reason. I have published thirteen books and coauthored one, all of which are available for purchase on Amazon, in case you’re interested (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).

I published my last novel, “If Not for the Entail”, October 15 of last year. With that complete and selling reasonably well, I turned my attention to a previous novel, “Hidden Desires” which, although I considered it sold well enough for a new author, was subjected to excoriating reviews that didn’t sit well with me.

Image by Yogendra Singh from Pixabay

Rather than resort to anger and name calling, I decided to reread my book to disprove the critics’ claims. I’d show them! Imagine my chagrin upon discovering their criticism was not only accurate but, in my opinion, understated.

My dialogue was stilted and overly flowery, the characters were, in many cases, mere caricatures of those who Jane Austen described so well, and my plot structure needed expansion and improvement, not only to tie everything together, but to justify the actions taken by my villain and protagonists.

With that realization in hand, I resolved to return to that novel and perform a complete rewrite. I’d clean up and simplify what was said, make my characters into people readers could identify with, and expand my plot to make it more believable.

And why not? With my latest selling decently well, I decided to take the bull by the horns, so to speak, and publish a new edition. And since I was working with an existing plot, the process should be fairly easy, right?

Wrong. Everything started out fine. I breezed through the first chapter in a day, the second in a couple more, and chapters three to thirteen in a month and a half. By December, though, my progress had slowed to a crawl, from which it has yet to recover. Since January of this year, I have completed one chapter and am currently two thirds of the way through chapter fifteen.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Through 2024, I made fitful attempts at putting my nose to the wheel and getting this finished, but I’ve gone from producing an average of four thousand words in a sitting to a trickle of three to four hundred on good days, which are few and far between.

In desperation, I explored articles and blogs explaining writer’s block and steps to take if you suffer from it. Some of them were:

1. Free Writing: Set a timer and write without worrying about content or quality- Nope. Didn’t help. Next?
2. Change of Scenery: Write in another room, or a cafe, or a park- I do that consistently. Hasn’t helped before, why should it magically begin now?
3. Set small goals: Don’t expect to write a chapter every day- If I set my goals any smaller, I’ll owe words.
4. Read and Consume Other Art: Read other author’s work, watch movies, listen to new music to inspire yourself- One of my problems is that entails my daily life for the past nine months!
5. Routine and Rituals: Establish a regular writing routine or create rituals around writing- That had me sitting at my computer staring at the screen and getting mad for not doing anything.
6. Talk it Out: Discuss ideas with others or explain a problem aloud- It’s difficult to describe writer’s block to someone who isn’t an author and the authors I know are busy creating, not sitting in the proverbial corner complaining about their lack of progress.
7. Take Breaks: Step away from the project to get fresh perspectives- Tried that in January. Still waiting on the renewed energy it promised.

Image by Alex from Pixabay

In pondering the problem, I realized that it started at about the same time my doctor added a new medication to my daily ritual. He told me it was for the diabetic neuropathy I was suffering, but it seems that some of the side effects are an inability to concentrate plus a lack of energy and clouded thoughts.

Armed with this information, I went back to my doctor, which resulted in a change to my prescription. Has it helped? Too soon to tell, but with luck I’ll return to my novel in short order and be able to complete the rewrite. I confess to a mountain of regret for not recognizing the issue long ago, but I cannot change the past, so it’s full steam ahead as soon as I can think clearly again.

As to “Hidden Desires”, I have a bit of  a teaser for you. I received this image from Crane Productions, the company designing the new and improved cover. This is not the finished cover, but it should give you a sneak peek at the direction I’m taking for the book’s appearance. There are a couple of obvious issues with this image, but I decided to give you an advanced look at the ideas we’re toying with. Let me know what you think.