Watch the video below to find out why.
Hello my lovely writers.
I wanted to talk to you today about something somebody said to me, which is, ‘Life moves in cycles.’ It’s a great phrase that my friend’s father used to say to them.
Life moves in cycles.
You might have noticed in your own life there are cycles when things are going well and cycles where things don’t feel like they’re going our way and everything feels a bit tough. It makes me think of that phrase, things come in threes, when bad luck seems to come in threes and you think, ‘Okay, that’s the third thing that’s gone wrong this week. Surely that’s it done now.’
Life moves in cycles and so does your writing
Everything goes around in cycles and it’s the same for our writing life. I will bet that, throughout your writing career, your writing life, since you started wanting to do this, even as a hobby or just for fun, there have been cycles when you have been so prolific and so enthused, when the muse has been with you and there haven’t been enough hours in the day to get all the words down.
Then we come around to that other side of the cycle where we dry up. There’s that feeling of being stuck, what some of you would probably call writer’s block. That real feeling that nothing is moving, nothing feels right and you’re very critical of your own writing. You’re critical of the story, you’re critical of your characters, of everything.
Even when you’re published and you’re building a career and you’re maybe writing a series of books, there are still cycles within that. There are going to be cycles where you are loving the series you’re writing and cycles where you’re a bit bored with it and you want to start a new series.
Within one book, there is a cycle. There is a cycle at the beginning when you’re super-excited about it and, if you’re a planner, you’re excited about putting that plot together, and that feels really exciting.
If you’re a discovery writer, you’re just diving on in there and that feels amazing too. You’re loving what you’re doing and what you’re writing.
At some point, you will begin to hate everything about your book
In every manuscript, for every writer I know, there comes a point, usually 70/75% of the way through the book, where you hate it. You hate the story you’re writing, you absolutely hate it. You wish it was done or you wish you’d never started it and you’re very tempted to start another book. Shiny Penny Syndrome comes in and you just want to move on to the next thing.
That is a normal part of the cycle as well. You come out of that eventually but you’ve got to be persistent. This is where tenacity and your resilience comes in. You come through that part of the cycle of hating the book you’re writing and then you start to love it again.
By the time this book is ready to go to an editor or go out into the world, you’re feeling happy and proud and content and excited about the hard work you’ve put in and about the story you’ve created out of nothing and the characters you’ve developed out of nothing. It’s a really magical part of the cycle.
Then you’ll start the next book and you’ll have that same excitement again.
Then you’ll have the other part of the cycle where you’re not loving the book you’re writing and on it goes and on it goes.
Life moves in cycles and your writing moves in cycles, just be aware of that. Even if you’re feeling rubbish about the book you’re writing right now, keep going. Dig in, dig deep, show your resilience, show your tenacity and keep going until you get through that part of the cycle and into the bit where you enjoy the book again.
I hope that is helpful and will keep you going through the cycle.
Emma xx
Emma Dhesi
Emma Dhesi is an author mindset coach and bestselling author who helps writers let go of perfectionism, self-doubt and writer’s block through her signature programme, Unlock Your Creative Block.
She is the host of the YouTube Channel, Emma Dhesi, where she interviews debut and experienced authors alike.
Through her 1:1 coaching programme, Emma helps new authors start and finish their first novel.
Emma provides personal written feedback on their pages and guides them through the emotional rollercoaster that is writing a novel!
