i wandered through fiction to look for the truth

It’s hard to stay positive when you’re revising or rewriting something.  About fifteen minutes ago I was looking at my second draft of my novel, thinking, “might as well go do something else, because this is crap and I have no idea why I am bothering trying to make it better.”

When you’re trying to fix what’s wrong with a piece, it can start to overwhelm you and then all you can see is a black hole of flaws waiting to swallow you.  The thing to do when this happens is to stop thinking about the things you want to fix, just for a minute, and find something you like.  It can be a line of dialogue, or description, an entire paragraph or scene, or even just a single word that you’re proud of.  Look at that cluster of letters that came out of your brain, and just let it soak in. Remind yourself that your work is good, these little details prove that no you don’t suck and you absolutely should not give up.  Remind yourself that this sentence or simile or bit of alliteration is working. Congratulate yourself for that. 

And then get back to work. 

(repeat as needed whenever self-confidence flags and despair threatens to set in).