Revising the Muse…Again

I’m working on a revision to the first novel in a proposed trilogy. I’ve been working on this project, on and off, for about a decade. I chose this year to buckle down and complete it, but based on feedback I got from readers of the first 100 pages, it looks like I’m going to have to make some really major structural changes if I’m going to make it work for them. And it’s freaking me out because I know they’re right. But as with all reader-requested changes, making them isn’t usually enough to make it "right", so it’s got me thinking. Is the project so self-indulgent that there really isn’t an audience for it? Could the tens of thousands of hours I’ve poured into the trilogy be wasted time? Is it worth trying to fix?

The only irrefutable truth: I love the saga.

I go through this kind of second-guessing all the time, but it’s never been incapacitating. But this time is different. It’s been over two weeks since I got the feedback and I haven’t put pen to glass. I’ve got to snap out of it, to more forward, to make it happen again. I understand this, but here I sit, blogging about it rather than facing the work at hand. I’m gonna sit myself down this evening and not get up until I’ve made some real progress. I promise this time.