I feel like I’m failing at the one thing I want to do. I wrote the Edith book. I did that. I worked on it for nearly 3 years and I got there. I even submitted it to some agencies. And got rejections. Rejection sucks. However, once I had exhausted the agencies that aren’t specific about their submission conditions (i.e. different for fiction and nonfiction and as you probably know the Edith book is an awkward blend), I ground to a halt.

I have started writing a nonfiction proposal for the book, but it feels like a huge mental block. I back out every time. That’s issue 1.

Issue 2. I don’t know what to write next. And I hate that. I hate being stuck. I’m going to try and enter the WW1 novel into a competition at the end of the year, so after struggling to work on it (frankly it somewhat bores me I’ve been working on it for so long), I have decided to dedicate the month of December to it.

What to write between now and then? None of my other ideas (fiction or nonfiction) stick, or rather my enthusiasm for each is fleeting, and for that I get cross with myself.

The one idea that does stick is essentially a sequel to the Edith book. So that might form a PhD, if I do decide to take that route.

In essence, I am not writing, and that is frustrating, and my natural response is to beat myself up. Every project I have thought of comes with a mountain of research (except Edith Book 2 because I have done the majority and, somehow, retained the information), because my natural inclination is to either nonfiction or historical fiction. I’d like to try something contemporary but I haven’t had that spark of an idea yet.

If any writers see this I would welcome advice, and maybe ask your writer friends too.

Danke,

E