Getting Through Writer's Block

It took a while, but I finally got Chapter 4 of my novel over to Amanda …and a couple of days early at that 🙂

I was happy to get this response in Amanda’s reply email:

“A really substantial chapter! Great work :)”

I knew there would be more to it than that though. I’m getting used to the fact that Amanda, being the talented professional she is, needs to be brutally honest in order for me to progress with this novel of mine.

I have so much to learn about novel writing, and along the way, I’m learning some things about myself too. The first is that I am getting pretty good at taking constructive criticism graciously, if I must say so myself. In fact, I find myself actually looking forward to Amanda’s criticism, in a weird kind of way 🙂

I guess the simple truth is, if I want to eventually get my novel to a stage where it is ready for proudly presenting to a publisher, then I have to be able to take criticism graciously…and then act upon it to make my writing better.

I’ve also had another revelation of sorts, that came to light amidst the following feedback from Amanda:

“This chapter was stronger with more happening, the story moved forward- actually very swiftly. You are very keen on people having an opportunity and leaving for their destination immediately – if not sooner 🙂

One issue – to look at later – is that sometimes we get a quick summary of something significant ie. skimmed over and then every detail of something not very significant.”

It was when she says I’m often giving a quick summary of significant events, rather than detailing them as I should. I thought about this, and now realise I’m probably trying to avoid parts of the story that are emotionally challenging or difficult for me to dwell on. The parts that remind me of how much my forefathers suffered to benefit me, basically. It makes me sad to think that my parents and grandparents left their homeland at a very young age, left everything they knew and loved, in order to make a better life in a new country FOR ME! They wanted to forge a better future for their children, even those of us who were yet unborn.

Suffice to say, I am completely in awe of them, and grateful beyond words for their sacrifices. So I better start showing it, by giving due diligence to the difficult parts of the immigration experience in my novel. It deserves more detail than what I’ve given it so far.

So it’s on to Chapter 5 for me, which is a lot further than I thought I’d get when I first started out all those months ago.

‘Writer’s block’ has been a bit of an issue for me during this chapter. But creating my art is rather therapeutic, helping me get through these ‘writer’s block’ moments in a productive way 🙂

Here are my two latest designs…