by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I’ve found that pausing thinking about the novel I’m working on for a few days — no more than 2 or three — does wonders. The worst thing you can do is overheat creatively and “run hot.” It’s too easy to lose focus on what’s going on and, also, to lose your creative flexibility.
Another thing I’ve learned is there comes a point when it’s better to re-write scenes instead of move around finished ones as blocks. You can make some really dumb structural decisions because you want to avoid having to re-write a scene.
It’s hard earned advice like the above that I would put into a how-to-write-a-novel book if I ever was in a position to write such a book. But I have to finish (and sell) a novel before I can do that. Though I’m so absolutely desperate for money at the moment, that I might look into being a beta reader of some sort. The idea being, that if I’m a beta reader for other people, then maybe it will be easier for ME to find a beta reader for MY novel(s).
Anyway, I don’t know how much of a pause I’m going to actually going to undertake at the moment. Maybe more like a few hours than a few days. I just need to re-charge my batteries some, do some reading.
