Help! This Book Is On A One Way Track To Nowhere!

So in my spare time--while I have NOT been writing--I've been reading. And I have come across some amazing blogs with very, very useful information.

I feel like I've woken up from a really deep coma or something. I have been on this one mind track for so long, and I've only been thinking about the negatives. For example, no one is going to want to read my book, it's been done too many times, my characters seem too much like others, my story seems to be going nowhere, I'm never going to finish it, etc. Just to name a few. Now I'm realizing that I probably haven't been giving my manuscript a chance to breathe and grow because I've stuck it in this unconstructive box with my brain.

I just wanted to point out a couple of the sites that provided significant contributions to my wake up call:

Aprilynne Pike, author of YA novel Wings, made reference to the new/fresh concept on her blog. You can read it here.

I know this is something that I have been struggling with (along with my many other issues) for quite some time. It's an age old question. "What if my idea isn't fresh/new enough?"

Chances are--your idea probably won't be fresh or all that new. It may have been done many times before. And as Aprilynne pointed out, that's okay. It's really what you do with that idea, and how you resell it that makes it appealing to an audience. Go ahead and write what you want to write, just give it your own unique spin.

The second major issue I've been muddling through is that I've restarted my manuscript four times. I mentioned before that I made it up to 200 pages on my second draft right before I decided that it didn't make any sense at all and I needed to begin again. I've been trying to write it since I started in February 2009! And at this rate, what conclusion did I come to? Exactly - I must be a horrible writer because I can't seem to finish the thing.

To that effect, YA Author Elana Johnson made a very inspiring post here to remind all of us that this too is okay! You may restart your book a gazillion times and feel like everything you write is completely dreadful. It's not true and it does not make you a bad writer. We have to remember that. Perseverance goes by many different names and there is no time limit on what you can achieve.

So... the moral of today's story?

You should never give up on doing what you love just because you feel that it's going nowhere. Everything goes somewhere, and eventually we will all get there.

I'm looking at the writing process in a whole new light, and suddenly I'm very excited again! :)

Check out these blogs - you will not be disappointed.