I haven’t given up on The Next Jane. But I did put it aside, again. When I pull out this manuscript to edit it, I feel like I need a serotonin by direct IV infusion. It’s a struggle, every single time. I know it’s a good story, but I can’t help how I feel.

So imagine my surprise when I pulled out a different project, and I edited an entire section, wrote notes about it, and was eager to dive into the next one in the morning… It’s only three days in (a friend dragged me into Camp NaNo) and I’m tackling that third section before it’s dark enough for fireworks.

I still don’t have a title for this thing, but it’ll come.

Remember all of that advice that writers share with each other? Show, don’t tell. Can’t edit a blank page. Write what you know. Write what you’re ready for.

I’m writing what I’m ready to write, maybe. I wonder if I’m ever going to be ready to finish Jane. I’ll worry about that in a month or two, perhaps. Right now I’m going to write what’s coming, and it’s easy enough that it feels like cheating. Except for the jokes. There’s one character who keeps trying to tell jokes, and that’s a struggle.

Wish me luck.