Cause of today’s anxiety: My master’s thesis (aka, the YA novel I’ve been trying to write since 2016, aka, the apple of my eye, aka, the bane of my existence) being due in one week.
Naming characters. *changing name for the tenth time* Should I go for a unique name or an average name? Something with significance or something I choose randomly from a baby names list?
The meet-cute. What happened? This was so cute in my head, and now all of a sudden, my hero seems completely rude. And kind of creepy. Why did I think my heroine would fall for this again?
Side characters. Are these characters doing enough here? I don’t want them to outshine the heroes, but I don’t want them to be in the dark either. I definitely don’t want them to be mere plot devices.
Chemistry. Does my couple even seem like a couple? Are they worthy of the almighty title ‘OTP’? Or am I that mom pushing two reluctant kids together? Am I that meme saying NOW KISS?
Humor. I’m laughing, so I must be funny, right? Or am I just a sad writer laughing at her own jokes? Who actually talks like this anyway? Do I even know how human beings interact?
Themes. Am I being too obvious? But if I’m not obvious, what if my readers miss the point entirely? What if they don’t understand the story I’ve been building for years? That I went to graduate school for? Or worse, what if the project I poured my heart and soul into just ends up offending people? WHAT IF MY BOOK ONLY GETS ONE STAR ON GOODREADS??? (Says the girl who is nowhere near publishing yet.)
…
I need some ice cream.
Sara Bechtol 