Repeating myself

I hate to do the same thing twice. That is one of the reasons I hate video games and filling out forms at the doctor’s office (really, how many times do you have to enter your name???) It’s also one of the things that you have to do to be a good writer (unless you spit out perfect prose the first time around – I don’t).

I’ve been rewriting the same three chapters for months. It’s frustrating. It’s demoralizing. It’s causing me to plumb new depths of procrastination and rationalization (there is always something good I could be cooking instead). And the only reason I keep rewriting them is that I don’t know what happens next.

I think I’ve finally broken the log jam, and that feels amazing. I learned a few things that work for me, and a few things that don’t. The best part though is knowing that the next time I get stuck I will remember how badly I was stuck before and that I did eventually work through it.