Look, you. I understand you're scared. That you don't think you can possibly write two interesting books for this market in a row. That the first one must have been some kind of fluke. That this book is translucent and frail and will shred like wet tissue paper when moved.

You've convinced yourself of tissue paper books in the past. What's the balance sheet read for the past seven years? Three completed novels, and twice that many that failed to thrive after 25k... And dozens that didn't make it to 10,000 words. When you look at it that way, no wonder you see the water dripping down. But stop looking at it that way. That was practice. That was for learning. That was so you could hitch up your pants and stride forward on this one.

So, buckle down. Reign in those wandering plot lines. Pare down your themes. And move forward.

It's not like you only get one shot at this. This is just the first draft. It's just words on a page. Actually, it's the simulacrum of words on a page. It's pixels on a screen, electrons in a box. Even easier to fix than words on the page--no white-out crust, no eraser dust.

Ok? Stop dithering. Get some work done. And fake it til you make it.