Now, the focus is on Finishing.
How is this going to end? How can I work it so that it ends in the next 12500 words or so? How do I tie up the loose ends and make this come out in a way that will feel satisfying?
This is my challenge this week.
The Author Pep Talk arrived in my inbox tonight. The highlight for me:
Some new writers spend years planning and preparing, but never get to the actual writing of the book. Others are “eternal rewriters” [me] who habitually get three chapters into a book, then go back and revise over and over. Others get mired in the death zone: that most difficult part of a book between the one-third and two-third marks.
If you’ve never finished a book before, your goal in NaNoWriMo should be to hit that finish line. Don’t revise. Don’t stop and plan. Keep going, no matter what. The NaNo website talks a great deal about this goal, and I suspect other pep talks will cover the point in depth. So rather than belaboring the point, I’ll just reference my own personal experience.
The biggest jump in quality I made as a writer came in finishing my first book and starting my second. Writing an ending, then being able to look back and see the entire book, taught me more about the process than years of education, years of reading, and years of starting ever had. Finishing one book is more valuable than a dozen creative writing courses and a thousand books started. I’ve seen this time and time again in other writers I know.
My new mantra: Don't think. Just finish.
You've come this far.
You can do this.
Just finish.
No comments:
Post a Comment