Thanks for reading and commenting, Peg! I'll have to check out the Soul Collage. I did something somewhat similar, in concept, at least. I bought a fun book--Doodling for Writers by Rebecca Fish Ewan. It was a fun distraction. I'll have to remember it for my next identity crisis, unless, (hopefully), there is none!

No wonder your daughter was written up as a case study and a big paper is interested. I wrote in my memoir something about my son's doctor's looking only horses, not zebras. It's a great metaphor.

Now that you're out of the rut, I hope it's smooth sailing!

It will accomplish the goals of what I was advised I needed, but I get to control the story. Some of the changes just wouldn't work for my vision, nor for theirs. And rather than creating a patchwork which wasn't going to sell, a fresh start made so much more sense. I just needed to hash it out with another friend, and she helped me out of the rut.

Agreed, Jenny. I just don't have that much time or energy to start over. Maybe if I was 30 and not 62!

Ouch. I feel your pain, Denise. But sometimes, like Jenny said, you have to get those early drafts out of the way. When I was in the midst of this recent book identity crisis, a manuscript editor suggested I start from scratch and rewrite the whole thing. I knew if I had to do that, I'd probably quit instead. I think I salvaged my story (actually, I think it's better than ever) but I guess I'll have to see. I'm curious - have you started the rewrite? If so, how is that working for you?

I know writers who have re-written stories 3-4 times. Sometimes you need to get those early drafts out of the way so you can find the true story. But it's hard to give up that much time. That's the heartbreaking part to me about writing.

denise