Stuck firmly in the bog of self doubt...

Well, it's been more than a week since I last wrote a single word of my novel.

I was feeling pretty happy about it until I had a wander around Waterstones; I suddenly found myself faced with the truth – my story has no originality, nor is it what I wanted to write. I seem to have lost my way somewhere along the road.

Result? I keep staring at the screen and wondering what went wrong. The story excited me when I came up with it, I had confidence it would be a good read (I'm honest enough to know it wasn't ever going to be a classic) and feedback I received was positive.

Then I walked into a shop full of books and realised I could find versions of my story all over the place.

I've been writing my blog and mentally writing a short ghost story while the rest of my mind is left to its own devices in the hope it will come up with a solution (I like to leave my mind to do the work!), but at present the novel is firmly bogged down.

I suspect I have two options; either throw it in the 'never mind pile' and forget it or keep writing and see where it takes me. As I have committed all my energy to this project I should probably keep going and see whether it improves. If not, at least I'm writing and learning.

Of course, this might just be a case of self doubt undermining me. Perhaps I'm writing the next big thing (if only...).