I'm having trouble concentrating on a particular project whenever I sit down to work on it. The project in question is my NaNo from last year. I finished the first draft in November and I've read through it a couple of times since, making small changes. With so much extra free time due to the current troubles, I figured I could finally give it an in-depth dissection and start revising/rewriting where needed. But every time I sit down to look at it with an editorial eye, even when I have a strong idea of the changes I'd like to make... I just can't change any words on the page or find the motivation to focus on it. It's like the project itself feels distant, and so many other things go through my head when I try to work on it, primarily details about my other projects.
For context, I also have two other MS's in my "current projects" folder. One, I'm currently querying, and another that I'm awaiting a beta reader's feedback for. When the need has arisen to address one of these other projects, I've done so without difficulty. Tweaking the query or sample pages based on SYW feedback for project#1 hasn't been an issue. And I didn't have any trouble focusing on project#2 after the first round of beta comments.
I still believe I'm interested in the 2019 NaNo project. When I re-read it recently, taking 'inventory' of possible areas for improvement, I had quite a bit of fun, and I think the project has legs. And yet, I still have difficulties making any changes based on those revision notes. Aside from that recent, early May re-read, I hadn't touched it in months so I thought I'd put enough distance between myself and it to look at it with fresh eyes and fresh interest. A month or so is usually enough for me.
It's a specific kind of writer's block that I haven't had before. I've also never written so much in my life (a new MS every year, basically), so maybe this block is a side effect of that? Am I rambling and overreacting, or is this a common thing for other writers? Have you encountered anything similar in your work and how did you overcome it, if at all?
For context, I also have two other MS's in my "current projects" folder. One, I'm currently querying, and another that I'm awaiting a beta reader's feedback for. When the need has arisen to address one of these other projects, I've done so without difficulty. Tweaking the query or sample pages based on SYW feedback for project#1 hasn't been an issue. And I didn't have any trouble focusing on project#2 after the first round of beta comments.
I still believe I'm interested in the 2019 NaNo project. When I re-read it recently, taking 'inventory' of possible areas for improvement, I had quite a bit of fun, and I think the project has legs. And yet, I still have difficulties making any changes based on those revision notes. Aside from that recent, early May re-read, I hadn't touched it in months so I thought I'd put enough distance between myself and it to look at it with fresh eyes and fresh interest. A month or so is usually enough for me.
It's a specific kind of writer's block that I haven't had before. I've also never written so much in my life (a new MS every year, basically), so maybe this block is a side effect of that? Am I rambling and overreacting, or is this a common thing for other writers? Have you encountered anything similar in your work and how did you overcome it, if at all?
