I did the whole “this is the worst thing I’ve ever written” part, then went through the “well, it just needs a little tweaking” part, and now, 25 chapters into what will ultimately be probably 30+ chapters, I’m thinking, what am I doing? This is going to be TOO long and there’s still more stuff I need to add.

It really is good to “hear” other writers say the same thing!

I always make a *very* expensive cup of tea (I like Red Emperor) or open a nice bottle of brandy, and take an hour off. In other words, I treat myself. Then I plow back in, forcing the words, hating every minute, hating every word, hating everything about writing. But in the end, I prove to myself that I do know how to do this. And the book works. And it is better than the elephant dung option.

When a new fan asks which book is my favorite, I think, “I hate them all at some point.” And my most favorite, is the one I finally just finished. Like birthing a baby, I guess, though I never have done that.

For those of you writing a book — this is the exact reason why most wannabee writers never finish a novel. They reach this point and the next book looks so much more exciting, so much more easy, and so much more wonderful and this one is just so awful, anyway… And so hard. And I hate it….

And now they have 5 or 6 half-finished books under the bed or on a computer file and they feel like a failure. And they never realize that this point in writing a book, this exact awful *I-want-to-dump-it* moment is what makes us writers. And they, like us, have to push through. And when / if they do? *Then* they are really writers.

Then they have reached a moment of success that most wannabee writers never get to. And, they have taught themselves how to write a book.
Faith