Several times in my writing career, I have happened upon what I call the Mud Effect. We’ve all had that dream (well, a fair amount has, anyway) where we’re running and desperately trying to get away from someone or something, but just can’t. It seems as though we’re running through the mud, or that our legs won’t move. Writing can do that to you.
Whether you’re drafting a chapter in the middle of the book, or slogging through revisions, there will usually come a point where it feels like it’s taking forever. Progress is snail slow. For some odd reason, as I go though my marked up draft, read through it, and fix any marks on the computer, I find that it’s big news if I manage to get 4 pages done. That’s right… 4 measly pages all in one day! Granted, I can’t seem to tolerate very long sitting sessions with it, either… Usually I can write for hours.
Basically, I wanted to write this post to encourage not only myself, but others as well who find themselves smack in the middle of a w.i.p and feel that it’s taking forever for the pages to turn. My best advice, to myself and others, is to just keep plowing ahead. We’ve made it this far; we must see it to the end.
Happy mudding.
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