Wednesday, July 01, 2015

IWSG: The Last Lap

Today is the monthly post for the Insecure Writers Support Group, in which we encourage each other. 

I'm on the final chapter of the first draft of Chaos Season. It should be easy going by this point, as I already know what I want to have happen. Yet it's coming out more slowly and not as fluently as I'd like. Maybe I'm just overtired, or maybe I need a break from this story for a while. Maybe I feel I'm not ready to finish the story when there's still so much I want to change. (It seems like I'm coming up with a lot of new ideas at this point. Pantsing isn't always easier than plotting in advance.) I don't doubt that I'll finish in the next week or so, but sometimes the last steps seem the hardest to take. It probably would be easier if I had a longer chunk of time to focus on the story instead of only a half hour at lunch or an hour at night.

I can't let excuses stop me from finishing this book, though. It may not be easy, but with the butt in the chair and the hands on the keyboard, it will get done, even if I have to stubborn my way to the end. After that, I can give myself a mental break from this story for a while and turn to a couple of half-finished projects. They've been slow to develop too, but I know I can get them done if I put my mind to them.

Are there particular writing stages that are most difficult for you? How do you overcome them? Feel free to share in the comments below.

6 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Maybe this weekend you can get a good chunk of time to write and will get back into it.
Forcing myself to start writing is rather tough sometimes. Although the entire first draft isn't that fun. Once I hit the end and can start editing, I'm good to go.

Sandra Ulbrich Almazan said...

Story beginnings can be even tougher than endings, Alex!

PT Dilloway said...

Sometimes it is hard to go that last step. Of course sometimes it means there's a problem with the story.

Diane Burton said...

Good luck with the ending of your story. I get frustrated when the end is near and I can't get to my computer.

AJ Lauer said...

You've totally got this!
I'm currently learning how to be less of a pantser and more of a planner. Trying it out during Camp NaNo this month. We'll see what happens!
Good luck!
Happy IWSG Day!
AJ Lauer
an IWSG co-host

Maria Zannini said...

Strangely enough, the beginning can be tough if I don't have the right hook in the first paragraph.

Once I've got that, I'm good to go.

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