The 10,000 Word Plateau

One of the things I've always wanted to do was write a novel. After many unsuccessful attempts, I have stuck to writing short stories.

A while ago, I started a novella. I didn't mean to, it was just that the story was taking longer than a usual short story. So I wrote and wrote. When I got to 10,000 words, something strange happened.

I stalled. I got bored. I wanted to trash it and move on.

Thinking back to my prior unfinished novels, I noticed I always hit a wall at 10,000 words. And every 10,000 thereafter.

So looking around for advice, I discovered the following bit:

When you have writer's block, keep writing through it.

Good advice. I'm hoping that if I can conquer a few novellas, I can eventually work up to a novel.