See, it even happens to Pulitzer Prize winners.

I was very relieved and reassured to read this short snippet about the troubles writer Michael Chabon was having with his most recent novel. Not that I put myself in his league, but it was nice to see that he had to put the breaks on his novel and go back to the drawing board, much like I'm doing with the baseball novel.

This is the quote I liked: "I shudder now when I think that I would have published the old draft," says Mr. Chabon, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel 'The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.'"

Yeah. At some point you sort of realize that what you have isn't working. It sucks, it's a painful moment (or moments, in my case), but once you get to that point, it's a challenge to push yourself. Why settle? Why rush a job that requires time?

And for me, it has spill-over into my other writing projects. I'm much more excited about this final coat of paint I'm putting on the Sixteen Miles novel.

Speaking of that, I got up at 4:30 a.m. again, a habit I plan to continue, to work through a couple more chapters this morning. And I even had time (and energy) to take a jog afterwards. Sweet. Though I was fading fast by the end of the day at work...

Now to find an agent, an editor and a "four-way, seven-figure auction"! Yeah, baby. Later...