Finished your manuscript but want eyes on it before you click publish? Or written the first 20k and stalled out wondering if you should even finish the darn thing?
👋 Hi, I’m Mary, and I’m the story expert who’ll make sure you’re on the right track.
I’m a writer too. I know what it’s like to be sick of your story.
I’m going to let you in on a little secret it took me way-too-long to learn: Every author hits a point where they’re sick of looking at their current project.
This is completely normal, and you are not alone.
After drafting, revising, rereading, revising some more, changing your loveable sidekick’s eye color because “it really should be brown,” it is natural to feel like a story is sucking out your soul.
As someone who’s revised for the sake of revising, I can confidently say there is no limit on how many changes you can make to a manuscript. There will always be another sentence to rewrite, another plot point to revisit, another character’s eye color to change. You’ve heard “if you build it, they will come?” Well, “if you reread it, you will revise.” Knowing when to stop, hand the manuscript to someone else, and say “I’m not looking at it until they give me their thoughts” is one of the most powerful tools in your toolbox. It doesn’t matter if you think you’re just about done or if you know you still have miles to go before you sleep. That second set of eyes (or, really, brain cells) is the key to moving forward.
Otherwise, you’ll just sit there and keep changing your sidekick’s eyes from blue to brown. (I know. I’ve done it.)
Sometimes, you just need a break.
This doesn’t have to be a walk in nature (though, those are good too). Specifically, this means to get the heck away from your manuscript. Read something else. Consume stuff that has nothing to do with the desert-dwelling culture your fantasy society is based on or the architectural blueprints that inspired the setting of your locked room mystery. Give your brain a rest so it can come back refreshed and ready to work.
Seriously, I’m not just saying this. Remember, I’m a writer too, and I’m doing my level best to live by what I’m telling you. So much that I started blogging again because I knew it would force me to put the manuscript down and write something else–even if it’s just a few hundred words every week.
And it’s already working. Just knowing I have that break has changed my entire mindset.
So if you’re looking for something that will force you to step away from your story, I invite you to subscribe to the Breaktime Blog. It literally is only a few hundred words each week, but I promise those few minutes away will help you reset so you can get back to the thing you love.
Just remember, it’s okay to get help.
This feels so obvious. But you wouldn’t believe how many people (myself included) need to hear it.
So, I’ll say it again for good measure:
It’s okay to get help.
I know it can be scary to let someone else read the manuscript you’ve poured your heart and soul into. What if they don’t like it? What if they steal your story?
Let me be perfectly clear on these two points:
Whether I think you’ve written the best story in the history of stories doesn’t matter. I put in the same effort whether the story is my absolute jam or something I wouldn’t normally pick up for fun. I’m not here to tell you “this sucks; give up.” I’m here to help you make your story everything it can be and more.
As to stealing stories–there may be some people out there who prey on aspiring authors this way. I’m not one of them. For one thing, I know how much work it is to write a book, and I respect your time and creativity too much to do such a thing.
For another, honestly, I’ve got too many story ideas bouncing around, trying to convince me they are the next one I should work on–with more showing up every day…
🤯
Right, I’m back.
Not for long, though. I need to go work on one of those stories before my head explodes again.
But I’ve always got time to take a break and work on something else. So if you’re ready for a break too, get in touch.