Pic found here
This is a Strange Place
I have noticed a trend in my writing. And no, I'm not talking about these kind of trends:
Erm... This is trendy??
*shudders* Anyway. One of my trends in writing is NOT finishing the second to last chapter. I know, weird place isn't it? I can write beginnings with little to no difficulties, and endings make me happy. Sure, the middle can be a tad difficult to make sure all the pieces are in the right order. But hand me the second to last chapter...
And suddenly
I can think
Of nothing.
It's true!
Thanet's Curse, which has plagued me since February, taunting me with the fact that I don't have any desire to finish it. Forget you, thou second-to-last chapter of death! I've been running from the aforementioned novel cringing with the thought of dealing with that chapter.
Then there's Luperin, the sequel to Haunbrinth. Now, there aren't really chapters (is this legal?) but I wrote everything but the few scenes right before the end, so it's about the equivalent of the second-to-last Chapter of Doom! I keep saying I'll finish it, but I haven't. Because. I don't want to deal with it.
There's even Myzi, which you guys don't even know about. Guess what I've written? Yup. Pretty much everything but that last final chapter. (And the third to last chapter, but you get the point.)
It's a plague, I tell you, a plague.
She has some good stuff.
Google is not cooperating today
I don't know how this is a Writer's Plague
And I don't know whether this is cool
Or so creepy I should go about screaming
I was working on Cinnamon and Calamus: of Why You Shouldn't Trust Spakes when I stopped. Anyone want to guess why? Yes, you, the one in the front moving your arm languidly back and forth like a fan? Why! You're correct. I did get stuck on the Second-to-Last Chapter of Destruction.
But I have found a way to fight it and I will be victorious! You see, this is the story I am writing that is based off of an inside joke.
Foot pic here
Eh, that's a weird looking foot
Of course, most feet look weird
Feet Are Weird
No, no, not the foot inside joke. The Spake inside joke. Anyway, so I made myself a promise. (Those pesky little promises won't leave me alone. I keep making them. *sigh*) Every time I see this Friend I have to have written at least one paragraph from the Second-Chapter-of-Dearth.
And guess what?? I have written at least half of the Horrible Chapter :D
The only down-side to my excitement? It's too short. Again. I'm only at 34,000 and That's Too Short.
I have decided that all of my books should be stamped with the label: S.A.S Books.
Short Attention Span Books. It's difficult for me to write long books (that are based solely on one character) because after 50,000 words I'm bored and done with that character. Let's move on. Plus, lately I've been having a hard time finishing long books. I think that's one of the many reasons I've been reading more and more Middle Grade books. (Though, they're not always shorter.)
So, my dearies, where do you get stuck when writing? Have you found any tricks to get past those tough parts? Do you like short books or do they annoy your face off?
(P.S. My brother, Dave, is reading my book right now, and it is much more hilarious when he reads it. Ahahaha...)
8 comments:
Admittedly, I've been racking my brain since first reading this post to come up with that "one particular place" where I always get stuck.
I can't come up with one. Not because I never get stuck (totally not the case!!), but rather because it's never the same place.
Different stories have their own troubles for me... Of course they all come with different joys, too! :)
the middle. the middle is what screws me over unless i have some sort of outline. Doesn't even need to be detailed. But if i don't have one, the middle doesn't get written which = no book
The second chapter always has me screaming and in a bad mood. So I abandon it and end up writing bits and pieces and failing to tie them all together just because I don't feel like getting mad at the world over nothing by continuing the efforts of chapter 2. Except the newest addition to the cast in my head. She won't let me write chapter one. But I can write 2 - after some trickery, but still. Hmm...
Is he reading about... how do I put this... *looks around* my cat!!! =]
vw: bashors - apparently a wizard from a video game.
@J.m. Neeb: Haha... I don't know why, but your last two sentences sounded like you were describing children. I think you're right though, each story does come with its own joys and challenges.
@Falen: Yes,, it's hard to have a book with only a beginning and an end. *nods*
@ElvishVampireHobbit: Hm, that's interesting.
*looks around* *nods fervently* Yes, he was reading about your cat.
I'm with Falen.
The middle is tough. I have an opening and and end always. But getting the two to join in the middle can be a problem.
Alas, sometimes the only way to get the stuck parts unstuck is BIC....BUTT IN CHAIR!
Good luck with the perilous penultimates!
@Al: Yes, joining the beginning to the end is a tricky thing sometimes.
@whitneymiller: Haha! :D I like that!
Let's see... I get stuck on the 2nd chapter and then I realize that the 1st one isn't really the 1st one, but the prelude that will never end up in the book. Or the 2nd chapter disguising itself as the 1st or something. Then I write the middle and it goes la de da forever and the end runs away and hides under a bush of excessive wordage leaving me with 2 1/2 books in one and no end. *sigh* hence I have not been writing much lately.
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