Writer's Block? Or Something Else?

For the first time since I started the actual writing of this thing in March my motivation has taken a downturn. Yes, for those of you paying attention, if any, this is right after my last entry in which I said my motivation level had never been higher.

I'm not sure what the deal is. My hero, Silas, has left New Orleans and is on a sea voyage that will take him to San Francisco. The second half of the novel will take place in California, with all the threads of the first half (hopefully) drawn together for the final conflict and resolution. I have lots of plans and ideas for the California scenes and, indeed, will have to work hard to prune it all down to a workable, not rambling, second half.

So why am I having trouble with motivation all of a sudden? Is it because the sea voyage has been not much more than a blank in my mind so far - no great ideas, just a way to get Silas to California? Is it because I've been thinking lately about just how much MORE time this is going to take? Is it a let down after completing the 3rd Chunk, which was the size of 1 & 2 combined, and had a lot of fun stuff going on in it?

Or is it writer's block or, more accurately, writer's trepidation, because, after all, how many tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of books have sea voyages, and what could I possibly come up in terms of descriptive originality? Maybe I'll just have him fall into a coma and wake up in San Francisco.....

Its not like I can't write at all - this morning I added about a thousand words which has Silas well offshore southbound, but the sharp motivating drive has been dulled. I'm afraid that if I just write kind of on autopilot - which it sort of feels like - it will come out as very pedestrian (which the whole thing may be, of course).

Part of it could also be because I'm waiting for my Ideal Reader (borrowing the term from Stephen King), whom I sleep with on a regular basis, to finish reading the 3rd Chunk and offer her comments. My wife, SFF, is not one to sugarcoat it for me, she'll let me know what she thinks very honestly - I take notes when she tells me her comments. If she comes back with some encouraging words it will be a big help for me to press on.

On a different, positive note - I have a comment on this blog! A fan! Okay, "fan" is much too strong a word, but thanks to 'october fairy' for posting and telling me to keep up the good work. I've had one posted comment before, but it was from my (good) friend who did it when I asked him to - just so I could see how posted comments worked and so I'd have one.