Stuck in the soggy middle

With the change in the seasons I've become restless, and my writing has slowed down.  I'm stuck in the soggy middle of my second riddle quest book.

Soggy middle describes my social life too.  So far, of the five writing groups I belong to, only one, my small support group, has met face to face since lockdown.  Two of the other groups have shut down completely, and two others have managed to keep going remotely via email and Zoom.

Up until the start of September I was coping well, continuing to write steadily.  But now, with the start of September, something has changed.  The onset of Autumn always makes me feel restless.   Part of that is the knowledge that the end of another year is not far off.  Another year in which I'm no closer to achieving my big goals.

My writing feels soggy because I've had to add more clues to the riddle quest.  For book two I originally had only five clues.  My original, fifteen year old draft, was only 65,000 words long.  I told myself not to worry about that.  The draft was a mess, with mixed-up viewpoints and little worldbuilding.  Surely when I fixed that it would be long  enough?

It became clear when I wrote the chapter about my characters finding the fourth clue that it wouldn't be.  I would need seven clues like the first book to make a full novel.  That meant creating two new paintings.  The clues this time revolve around finding paintings with riddles attached.  So I needed two new riddles also.  It also meant cutting out what was one of the few good scenes in the original draft.  Oh, well, I can re-work that to form part of my Supreme Ordeal at the end of the book.

Up to how I've been rewriting existing chapters, adding worldbuilding, internal dialogue, and adding in a gay relationship.  Because I had that old draft for reference the writing has been easy.  Not so with the sixth and seven clues.  I'm in completely new territory.  Literally.  I've had to create new places on  my reference map, and decide where these new clues will be found.  So now I'm pitched into original creation again, and my work rate has slowed right down.

In a week or so I will have adjusted to the new season, the restlessness will go, and I will be fully into the challenge of creating new content.  But for now, while Autumn duels with the end of summer, that sense of sagginess and lack of progress remains.