What The Blizzard Taught Me About Writing A Novel

White on white is all I saw looking out my window today. The blizzard of 2016 hit us pretty hard, at least 18 inches of snow and as I write this it’s still coming down.

Last night wasn’t so bad, about six inches or so. I went out around nine o’clock and shoveled, hoping to stay ahead of the storm. That was a fruitless endeavor. So, around noon today I suited up, grabbed my shovel and prepped the snow blower and started out into the knee deep snow.

As I shoveled the heavy snow I took frequent breaks and just glanced out at the effort in front of me. It was daunting. The more I pressed forward, the more useless it seemed. Every break started to get longer, and my willpower weaker. Then I realized that the snow, the shovel in my hand and the voice in my head (my inner critic, see: https://medium.com/writers-on-writing/stop-fighting-your-inner-critic-outrun-it-instead-12fa0c5de01f#.focosehvx ) combined together were like a metaphor for writing my book physically manifested.

Here is what I learned.

Thinking about the overall size of the task in front of you, of the time and effort required to complete it, is a goal killer.

Looking out at all that powder is just like realizing you’re 5,000 words into a story that might require a solid 150,000 to tell. This can devastate your self-confidence in being able to walk the path as long as you need to.

I cannot tell you how many times I have stopped and looked at my outline and thought, “Fuck this.” The reasons for doing so are many. But the biggest is far and away the fact that it is going to be extremely hard to get to the end from where I am. Even if you aren’t someone who outlines, whenever you stop to think about what you’re going to do next is an opportunity for you to realize the size of your story.

Here’s how the blizzard taught me to get past moments like this.

• Only focus on digging where you’re standing: Don’t worry about your novel as a whole when you’re writing. Only focus on what is right in front of you and your characters.
• Stop and take breaks: If you move too fast with your plot you’ll make mistakes, which are fixable, but you also open yourself up to burning out. Burn out is not the same thing as writers block, it is much much worse. It is physically or mentally being unable to proceed forward. Slow yourself down, take your time and don’t stretch yourself beyond your limits.
• Frequently evaluate where you are with your progress: Again, this is not focusing on what is in front of you, but rather what is already behind you. This doesn’t mean to consistently revisit what you’ve already written, but rather acknowledge that you have moved forward. This will give you the boost you need to continue, and will give you the opportunity to ensure that you’re on the right path with your story.

That’s all from me today. Now back to the snow!