Who wants to read my novel? No one is interested in what I have to say. Sound familiar? All writers struggle with self-doubt. Generating ideas and pages is often exciting, but there are bound to be days when you struggle and possibly even hate your work. This is another aspect of the craft of writing. We have to learn to manage the expectations you have for yourself and your project. The key is to use the energy it takes to put forth such ideas to further fuel your project despiteyour doubts. Sound daunting? It isn’t. Here are five quick ways to fall back in love with your project.

Step one: Figure out what you love about your project. If it’s language, isolate a page from your piece and identify actual words that you like. Jot them down. Take note of the color and sound and texture or whatever else you find appealing about these words. If you are drawn to the plot of your piece, select a page and see if there are any particular lines that shimmer. Use these places to reinsert yourself into the piece.

Step two: Read something you love and let yourself enjoy the process of reading for pleasure. 

Step three: Read your own work like an editor. What is unique about your way of looking at things? Go through several pages of your manuscript and then jot a couple observations. How can you deepen this throughout your pages? 

Step four: “Bad books are about things the writer already knew before he wrote them,” Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes says. Without a sense of discovery, a creative piece will lack urgency and interest—both yours AND the readers. The best writing is less about acquiring wisdom and more about exploring.  Reread several pages of your project and make a list of questions you have. Do any pull at you? Can you answer any of them now? What begs to be explored on paper?

Step five: Take a break. Call a friend. Each chocolate. Go for a walk or darn socks. When you focus on another task altogether, the analytical side of your brain is put on hold and the right side can do what it does best—create ideas and worlds that intrigue. 

“Most of us go on without a vision. We are bereft of the experience that ravishes and transforms. We cling to what is dear to us; we safeguard it under lock and key. We are leery of the surrender that it takes to write. We want to have our vision before we begin, before we lift the knife to slay what we love, our cherished egos, our desire to be excellent. We want them back before we give them us. Not later, but now we want our vision. Not as reward but at guarantee.” 

Bonnie Friedman from Writing Past Dark

A sad fact is the more you know about your project, the more likely you are to censor yourself. Yet perseverance and commitment count for more than you imagine. So be kind to yourself. If you find yourself frustrated, put your work away. Exercise. Take a walk. See how movement can help you solve your writing dilemmas. And let yourself play—bring your imagination into the room. Return to whatever initially inspired you and cup that in your hands. Have faith.