I think you're a good writer. From the strength of these essays--I've not read any of your fiction--I can see you're a good writer. You can lay down words in a row that set a scene, conjure an emotion, tell a story. And you seem to be able to do that on demand, which is something I cannot do.

But there's being a good writer and being able to write a novel. You say that you can't plot. That's possible; plotting is a separate task than writing. So cheat again; there are enough Hans Christian Anderson-like plots lying around to last you a lifetime. Or write things without a plot. Or don't worry about the plot and just write scenes.

Pushing on the boulder isn't likely to get it to move. Consider, for a while, the boulder as part of the landscape.

B