Stalled

Image: ChatGPT

When I reached 101 pages in my novel, Dark Water, I was feeling really good. I've never written at this pace before and feel good that I have the bones of this story assembled from head to foot, which I've laid out in notes and spreadsheets.

I just need to finish putting all of those bones in place, and then I can start adding organs and tissue into a solid body of work. (How was that for imagery?)

But ever since I've hit 101 pages, I've kind of stalled on writing. Ever since I first started writing this book, I've had a pattern: write from Monday to Thursday; edit those pages on Friday. If, after editing that work, I feel like writing some more, I continue.

This schedule worked well, right up until those 101 pages. Reaching 100 felt like a real milestone and I was proud of my pacing. I also know where the story continues and what needs to be written.

Only, this week, I've stalled.

Admittedly, this week's been a bit hectic. We had our Canadian election on Monday, and I was distracted by nerves. It was the closest election in a long time and I was watching the results come in all the way until 2:30 Tuesday morning.

Needless to say, I was pretty tired on Tuesday. But relieved by the election results. I had errands and appointments to fill the first part of my day—getting currency for our vacation and a much-needed massage (I've gotta use my work benefits while I have them!). I ran out of steam in the afternoon and my brain was pretty much mush, so I didn't write at all.

Not even a blog post.

Oh, yeah, my weekly routine also has me writing as many blog posts on the weekends or on Tuesday mornings, so I don't have to worry about them for the rest of the week. (I wrote this post yesterday; I wrote Friday's post a couple of weeks ago.)

Looking at page 102, which is the start of Chapter 8, I've had one word, which I typed after finishing page 101 and Chapter 7: "Calloway."

Michael 'Mickey' Calloway is the lead inspector in Dark Water and he'll be leading this chapter. For a good chunk of Monday, I stared at that single word and tried to will myself to continue. I know where the story is supposed to go from here but I haven't figured out to start it. It's the beginning of a new day and Mickey is at his desk in the Serious Crimes unit of the police station.

That's in my head but I just haven't been able to write it down and have reached my first block about how to start the chapter. I have information that the character does not, and I'm trying to figure out how to get it to him.

It's not meat for the bones. It's a joint.

Maybe I need to take a break. Maybe, I need some fresh thinking.

I'm already taking a break from writing today. Kid 2, who's coming along on our family vacation, lives in Toronto and has to work today. It's tight for her to get a train to Ottawa, and I'm worried that she'll forget something, like her passport, so I've decided to drive down to pick her up. We can go through a checklist before heading home and that way, I'll be less stressed.

Just tired.

So I spent yesterday reading Dark Water from the beginning, to check the pace and make sure that I'm ready to go when I return to writing, after our vacation. And hopefully, I'll have a clearer direction on how to start Chapter 8.

Maybe, stalling at this point is exactly what I needed.