I reread the conclusion to my novel Jefferson and the Magician’s Curse today. This is a big deal because I have now fully finished rereading the entire thing. Do you know what I noticed?
The ending was good… But it could be so much more…
What do I mean? Well, I had an ending. I edited from eighty five thousand words up to the ninety thousand word mark. Then I had an epiphany as I read through the last pages of my story.
This was all too easy, the end? Too nice. Let’s crush some souls.
I’d like to think that at the end of my story, the reader will see the signs. They’ll see them and beg, BEG the protagonist not to do it.
But then… he does.
It is perfect and completes the ultimate circle. Besides the fact I have to rewrite the final ten thousand or so words of my novel, it works on many different levels and fits in perfectly. Much like finding the diamond puzzle piece that makes it all combine together… I feel… I feel…
Liberated!
Don’t ask! It feels so good to have crushed the ending I had with this new, Ending Version Two, Superior. This does put me a bit behind now though. I thought, edit some words… finish it today. Editing fifteen thousand words is easy once you get going. Just do it, I told myself. Then suddenly without warning, this comes through and despite the ending of the story already being written, I decided to rewrite it. I still want my book to be over one hundred thousand words. But now, it feels whole. Now it has things like foreshadowing, suspense, drama, action (which have been spit shined and polished) and now it has this moment. The moment the whole book has been building up to and is executed so perfectly it makes my mouth twist into an insane sort of grin smile. I think this might be called winning.
So now that I have to rewrite the final ten thousand words, I’ve set myself a deadline of the end of December. This is a near impossible target as in retail I work many hours, and then followed up by everyone wanting to see us over the holidays I think I may have to start overlapping mundane tasks (Brushing teeth and Showering, Eating and Writing) or get up earlier and go to bed earlier (which is hard when social events run until nine to eleven at night). If anyone can figure out how to write while they sleep… there is money already in the bank for you.
But the reason I decided to smash into it today was because I reread some of Ray Bradbury’s “Zen in the Art of Writing”. Mr Bradbury has so much energy and passion that immediately after reading any portion of it, you leap up and run to your computer to write. It is most disappointing that this man is gone as he will never know how much he influenced me from his small pocket sized book of writing suggestions. If you are a writer, go find this book and give it a read. I’d love to discuss it and when I eventually get published, he will definitely get a mention.
Also, procrastination is so easy. Pick up the challenge of eliminating all of these distractions we have at our fingertips and focus on what matters most to you. I put my phone away, used an app to limit my access to the internet and told myself to get to ninety thousand and read the rest. Now, things have changed… the story is going to rock and once I end the novel, it is then on to my partner to read. I just hope she enjoys it as much as I do!
Anyway get out there and write. Also, what is everyone writing right this second? Fantasy Novel? Story of a boy and a girl? I’d love to hear from you!
I’ve decided to keep going with the story I was writing for Nanowrimo. Honestly, I’d begun to write it just because there was just *so much writing* going on, I figured I could get this handful of assorted scenes out of my head, and then suddenly *FULL SHORT STORY*.
Congrats on reworking your ending to be as wrapped up as wrapped up can be! It’s a nice feeling when things come to a natural conclusion.
Yeah it is super awesome (I just have to write it now @_@) but the ending feels more sinister and despite it being an end, it could also be just the beginning and that makes me happy!
I just need to write another few thousand words for the conclusion and then it’s complete!
I love those moments though when the idea becomes a story in itself. I’ve had side characters who’ve had more interesting lives than my main character!
Like exdevlin said, I’m continuing to write everyday post-nanowrimo because my novel isn’t yet finished at 50,000. Since I’m not even halfway through the story yet, I suspect it’ll easily be 100,000 word novel. I upped my daily word goal from NaNo’s 1667 words to 2000 words instead, giving me a grand total of 112,000 words by the end of the month if I keep this up.
That’s awesome! Although the more I hear people hitting 100k the less impressed I am with my own achievement (even though I know it’s a great one nevertheless!)
112k is an awesome number when you consider best sellers like Harry Potter and the Hobbit both clocked in at under 100k! It’s all about quality right? Not quantity!
Either way good luck and keep me informed! It’s so exciting!
Procrastination seems to become my middle name! I am also trying to eliminate the distractions in my life too, but darn it the dogs want to eat and go outside! Seriously, it is a huge challenge to not only to start writing but to stop when I need to head off to work or handle one of my other responsibilities. Discipline is my weakness – I don’t have any – so my goal for 2014 is to work on developing the discipline I need to sit and write, let go of the distractions and learn to say NO!
I too am continuing or trying to continue what I started for NaNoWriMo. I am writing a fictional account of my mothers life in Germany from the 1930’s and 1940’s.
When you find a way to write in your sleep let me know I will be the first to buy your how to book!! LOL Blessings –
I can do discipline, but it’s like when a smoker “quits” smoking three or four times… is it really quitting if they start again? Same thing goes for my writing… if I write for a solid month at the same time and then let it lapse… am I not the same?
We always let life get in the way, but we never give the time to that which we really want to do. It is easy to push it behind responsibilities or lack of energy or whatever the case may be… but if we truly want to succeed at writing we need to put it before all else.
In my case… sometimes sleep is more important than writing!
Good point – I am not allowing myself to put writing first – something to work on in the New Year.
Definitely, and we’re all guilty of it. But those who are successful have put it first. Ray Bradbury quit his job (I’m not saying go that far) but this not only gave him the time to write but also gave him to pressure to succeed. With no safety net he was forced to write and found channels and outlets to do it professionally. His book, Zen in the Art of Writing, was by far one of the best how and why to write from an author. Short, sweet and to the point!
thanks for the info…I just need to find what works for me, minus quitting my job although I would love to do that, but since it is out of the question I will keep on plugging along until I find that special trick that will work for me. Merry Christmas!
Hope you had a lovely Christmas, and wish you a wonderful new year! As for quitting, I don’t think that is for everyone. I have huge plans for the next year including making my current novel into a trilogy and planning an intertwined trilogy leading into a single book. We will see how that goes! Keep me posted on how you’re going Patty!
I will – I got my second wind and ready to let go of those pesky things that have been interfering – actually today I threw some of them out or deleted from the computer and yes it did hurt!! but not for long. 😉 Keep us updated on your plans as well. You have your work cut out for you this year so I look forward to seeing the results.