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Therese Walsh on Apr 19 2007 | Filed under: REAL WORLD
Help!
I have 13 scenes left to write in my draft. Exciting, huh? Yet I can’t seem to face the wip and accomplish anything substantial. I want to be finished, yet, if someone said, “Oh, I’ll do it for you,” I’d gladly hand over the keyboard. What’s this about? These are the most exciting scenes!
Does this ever happen to any of you? What do you do to overcome almost-done-itis?
Therese Walsh co-founded Writer Unboxed in 2006. Her debut novel, The Last Will of Moira Leahy, sold to Random House in a two-book deal in 2008, was named one of January Magazine’s Best Books of 2009, and was a Target Breakout Book in 2010. She's never been published with a lit magazine, but LOST's Carlton Cuse liked her haiku best on Twitter, and that made her pretty happy.
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Klæmint Vágadal on 
I know you probably want to hurry up and finish, but I would say take a break. Allow yourself to miss your story.
Sometimes when I’m struggling with progress on my story and don’t feel terribly motivated, I’ll take a break and pretend like I’ve given up writing for good. Within a few days, I start to feel antsy and begin thinking about my story with a bit more zeal.
The danger I’d be wary of is pushing forward without much motivation, just to get the thing done, and those final 13 scenes won’t be what you want.
You’ve already spent this long. A little bit longer isn’t going to kill you — granted you don’t have a publisher on your back, getting out the whip.
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I agree with Eric. Take a break. Then when you feel recharged (and healthy!) hit it again. Because, unfortunately, the old adage is true: writing = ass in chair. I can’t get around that, no matter how hard I try.
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There’s only one thing TO do.
Eat lots of chocolate. ;)
But yeah, taking a break is a good idea. And then you must just sit down and do it.
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It’s such a mystery, isn’t it? When are we really done? And how do we know?
I’m feeling my way through a second draft of a wip and finding, at the half-way point, that I need to remind myself just how much stamina and endurance are required to do the job.
It may look easy, sitting at our desks, munching chocolates, sipping coffee, planning scenes, but the imaginative effort of trying to enter into another person’s life–to feel what he or she is feeling moment to moment–requires a good deal of psychic (not to mention emotional) energy.
So, yes, sometimes a rest is necessary, just to regain the strength to reach the finish line.
But sometimes–just when you think you can’t take another step–you find an inner reservoir of strength that takes you to a place that you hadn’t planned on going to.
Each writer’s instinct for this is different, I suspect. No one can tell you whether to rest or to keep pushing ahead through the jungle.
Nor can anyone really tell you (until after you finish the draft) whether you’ve hit pay-dirt or come up empty-handed on your latest dive.
You need to find the courage, I think, to face the emotional issues that your character is facing (or about to face) in these culminating scenes.
Immerse yourself completely, don’t hold anything back… and see what happens. If you don’t get the scenes right this time, there’s always the next draft, right?
Good luck.
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This is all such good advice. Especially the part about the chocolate. But seriously, the thought of putting the wip on ice drives me crazy. I probably should do it, but I really do want to finish.
You need to find the courage, I think, to face the emotional issues that your character is facing (or about to face) in these culminating scenes.
Bruce, I think you’ve nailed it. I do have to put my protag through a lot in these next scenes, and you’re right too about having to pull that energy from within.
I prescribe myself rest and some good thinking time. I’ll try visualizing every part of the next scene, including as many sensory details as I can. Hopefully that will make this next bit easier to write. I’ll keep the ECS (emergency chocolate supply) within close reach.
I’ll let you know how it goes. Thanks, guys.
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dream on it. immerse yourself in dreams of your story. let it, scene by scene, travel through your mind. live it. think on it before you drift off into sleep. visualize your characters’ faces. their smiles. listen to their deepest, darkest secrets. dream on it.
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Kathleen,
While I agree writing = ass in chair, storytelling = time & development. It’s an unfortunate hard conflict between writing and storytelling.
I wish I could solve everything through the writing…
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