Getting the first draft finished is like pushing a peanut with your nose across a very dirty floor.
Any kind of creative activity is likely to be stressful. The more anxiety, the more you feel that you are headed in the right direction. Easiness, relaxation, comfort - these are not conditions that usually accompany serious work.
Was it confusing because it was artistic, or artistic because it was confusing?
My self is all to me. I don't have any need of you.
The novel is the affliction for which only the novel is the cure.
I feel a terrible loss when I (eventually must) complete a work of fiction.