A Swing... And a Miss.

Last week I took four pages to critique group even though I wasn't at all happy with them. That's what the group if for, after all, right? You read. They provide feedback. Helps you get your stuff in order. And it worked that way, last week. There was quite a bit of feedback and I left feeling optimistic that I could still do this thing -- write a novel -- whatever...

None-the-less, I have found absolutely every possible excuse this past week for not working on it. In fact, I put off trying to print my next four pages until about a half hour before I had to leave for group and I ended up not taking anything. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I mean, I have 150-some pages of single-spaced story written. There is really no excuse for NOT taking something to critique group.

But the more time I spent dwelling on it last night, the more I became convinced that maybe the answer is just to walk away... for a while at least. Perhaps I should throw myself into yet another writing project and leave this one to dry for a while. Perhaps it will look different with a little distance.

Yet I'm torn. I swore to myself I'd have a complete manuscript by the time hubby was done with law school and I'm down to about six months. This is the closest thing I have to complete. Seems I should just apply myself and get it done.

Surely I have learned enough that the next one will be easier, right?

For now, I have a given break from writing group. Next Monday is my birthday (good excuse, no?) and the week after that I will be hanging out on the beaches of Mexico. So perhaps I will return with renewed focus and determination... or at least will have decided how I'm going to apply myself.