That part of the novel-writing process where you find ways to avoid writing the stuff that you don't yet understand

This book is so goddamn whimsical.

Sometimes, when I get to a point where (but not all) of a novel is working well, I'll experience a curious sort of circularity in the writing process. Things will really be clicking for awhile, and then the whole thing will go slack. And then I'll make a titanic effort and sort of figure out something to do, and then t…