I've been writing novels for seven years and for three actually been dedicated to it and I'm still learning about my own writing style. My first completed manuscript was written in a month and half coming in over 70,000 words. But with my last manuscript, I got to over 20,000 words and I hit a wall with writing. I felt drained and angry that I couldn't write anymore. So I left it alone, worked on other projects and after a few months dove right back in and finished up the story in another 25, 000 words or so. I figured it was just a one time deal.
Fast forward to this newest manuscript, I've hit another 20,000 words and again I slammed into a word wall. I know where my story is going but for whatever reason, I am having a hard time getting it out on the page and when I do I feel worse for it being there. But now that I have a few manuscripts under my belt I can relax knowing that this is part of how I write. I trust that I will allow the story to simmer like a great soup in the back burner of my mind and then I'll come back to it.
So for now, I stock up on my reading and TV watching. Plus send out query letters and synopsis to literary agents. I've got nothing but time.
To downtime,
The writer