Pausing

I'm hoping to start a small side business, so I've put my writing on hold for awhile. Part of it is less time and focusing on my family's needs, but I'm also wondering if I can actually write readable fiction. The last fiction stories I wrote were in 6th grade. It's been essays ever since. I don't have a grasp on the mechanics of fiction.

Okay, and here's the straight up truth: I feel like the story keeps trying to turn into a love story. Is there such a thing as romantic scifi? I wanted it to be more about a girl accepting herself for who she is. I was aiming for a story about friends, something with just the "good parts."

There are things I want to add to my story, but doubts keep me busy doing everything but writing. Maybe I shouldn't write it in first person present. Maybe I'm not good enough. Maybe the story I want to write is boring. The more I follow writing advice, the less I seem to be writing.

How to find my way? I don't know. And I don't know what happens to my characters next. So I'm stalled.

I'm going to sleep on it, let my subconscious work on it for a few hours. Or days. But not weeks, because I'm afraid that if I pause for too long, I'll let my doubts win and I'll never start again.

I don't want to be the person who almost wrote a book.