Writer's Block....................are you kidding me?

So you finally pluck up the courage to begin writing a novel. Then you spend hours upon hours writing it. You are pleasantly surprised to find that you are enjoying the process. Then you get about halfway, say 40,000 words and unfortunately you slow down somewhat. Your plot development stutters and decelerates. You don't panic. You felt that something like this was bound to happen at some point. After all it's your first attempt to write anything like this. 

So you take a break. You read some books. In my case it was offerings from Iain Banks and Peter Hamilton. Big mistake. Huge. Seriously huge. Why?

Because you experience for yourself the work of just stunningly good writers. Their soaring imaginations, their brilliant dialogue give you a wonderful experience as a reader but leave you utterly deflated when you think on your own effort. To make matters worse you purchased their books in a Dealz €1.50 shop. If the work of writers this incredibly talented are ending up in the bargain basement section of a cheapie €1.50 shop, then where does that leave you? How could you ever aspire to even attempt to write a novel? You are in a serious bind. Now what?