When I was in high school the only sport I participated in was Cross Country. Because my father is a sports buff/coach, he had some great advice: save some juice for the end and sprint across the finish line--always finish strong. I always lived by that and no matter how exhausted I was I saved enough juice for a strong finish, most likely because everyone was watching.
Fast forward to writing books.
I assumed that my "finish strong" mantra would carry over into my books. After all, you spend tons of time with the characters and story, and when it's time to cross the finish line you give it all your juice and sprint to a glorious finish. Well, not so much in my case.
Currently, I'm on the brink of completing my 5th book. The only problem is that I'm hobbling to the end. I've been stuck around 15,000 words to the finish basically all last week, with only 2 new scenes. So, trying to self-diagnose my problem, is it that
A. I love my story so much I don't want to let go of the characters
B. I'm trying to craft the perfect finish, rather than sprint it out
C. Television on the comfy couch is too enticing
D. I'm out of gas
E. I'm convicted by my character's self-determination in the area of exercise and food and when she's doing much better than me I can no longer write about her
F. I'm out of gas
The rest of the book is sketched out, so it's not that I don't know where I'm going. It has to be one of the above. Today I'm going to do whatever it takes to finish a new scene, preferrably 1,500 words and barrel through.
Oh for the ability to sprint to the end!
How about you, do you sprint or hobble across the finish line?
.jpg)
7 comments:
I've done both. Hang in there, Georgiana, whether you sprint or hobble, the reader will know no difference in the end. The important thing is to just complete it!
It varies for me! some are easeir than others to finish. All good reasons listed, very realistic. Why is out of gas posted twice? That might tell you something there lol REFUEL!!!!
You can do it! =)
I sputter near the finish, whine, putter, put it off, kick myself in the patoot, then set aside a time where I'm going to finish the thing no matter what...
then, reality sets in, I have to reschedule the time, ruminate some more on the ending, grouse a bit,
THEN...I sprint toward the finish. The last day of a first draft is usually a big word count day for me, but there's a lot of whining that happens just before that. :)
You can do it, kiddo! One step at a time or a sprint to the finish...either way, you'll make it.
I love E. LOL! Good luck! I'm sure the ending will be perfect once you get there. :-)
I basically sprint, hobble, then crawl my way through the entire book. You write 5 times as fast as I do, so don't beat yourself up. Hobble is you have to!
Post a Comment