what a nerve
Sometimes even saying the words "my novel" out loud seems hubristic. In such a mood, be sure not to go to the library, or look at the best seller table at the bookstore.
Things to do when you're not sure anyone cares whether you write another line or not:
Breathe deeply (always a good thing in any case).
Read something deeply trashy and bad, as negative inspiration.
Read something amazing and profound, that makes you see writing anew (I recommend, for example, Gilead, which I am rereading).
Recognize that you and your novel are disposable.
Accept the above, but not gracefully; for why should you?
Take a walk (my mother's answer to every problem).
Embrace (at least temporarily) another art form: watch a DVD (Nights of Cabiria, for instance, which is on my TV-side table at this moment).
Buy something.
Remember that you can always go to law school, even at your advanced age.
This is a list of only 9 things, and I'd so like to make it 10 (more satisfyingly round). But I have decided that one of my faults is to overwrite, and I'm practicing minimalism.
posted by mary grimm at 8:54 PM
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yay for minimalism! i like the point about law school. as supportive as my parents are, they would be inherently more so i was considering law school
~Sean
I'm only practicing minimalism though--I have no great hopes of achieving it.
I get depressed when I read something trashy and bad that sold a million. Or even a thousand.
kitchen hand
If approached in the proper mood, a really bad piece of writing can make you say--I can write something better than that. Not necessarily something that will make more money (or as much; or any).
I admit I don't always have the proper mood.
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