Oh my goodness. How am I supposed to get back to normal? Attending my first writers’ conference in early May was a dream come true. Really. I learned so much more than I ever thought I would. There is one little hitch though. Now, I over-analyze everything I write. Every sentence, practically every word. It’s starting to get in the way of the plot because I am focussing too much on the words and structure.
So, exactly how am I supposed to get back to normal? I mean, every time I write a few sentences, I start to think that they aren;t punchy enough or I have used the same word too many times or the structure isn’t right. I am even finding myself fixing previously written text to accommodate what I learned at the conference.
Am I just over-editing? Will I return to normal soon? What am I supposed to do if all I think about is how mundane my writing must be? Oh the conundrum!
As usual, writing things out, especially issues I have, seems to help me come up with solutions. My first thought is to get back to writing and worry about the editing later. Somehow I have to trust that my story is more important right now than which words I choose and how many times I use a word. This has always been difficult for me, but now, trying to add in the nuances I learned about at the conference, is making me crazy! Not to mention, the “Doubt Monster” is really tearing at what little confidence I have in my own writing abilities. I almost feel as though I cannot write at all.
OK, ok, stop whining and practice not editing. See how that works out. Hopefully I can return to some normalcy in my writing soon.
(also posted on She Writes)