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Monday, September 8, 2014

Reaching For The Finish

I've mentioned a few times before that I wanted to finish the first draft of my current work in progress by the end of August or by September 12th at the latest. Unfortunately that's not going to happen.

Between working 10 hours days the last week of August and doing only the bare minimum of writing last week (the 100 words per day required for the 100 day challenge) so I could enjoy the holiday and visits with family, I haven't meet my 25 page a week goal the last 2 weeks. I want to say this isn't an excuse, but if I'm honest with myself, it is. I had time to squeeze in more writing than just 100 or so words each day last week, but I didn't. 

 
I only have about 50 pages  give or take a few and the manuscript will be complete so one would think I'd be chomping at the bit to write those last pages and write "The End," but for some reason I'm not. I can't really say why I'm not rushing to finish. It's not like once I finish it, I'll be done with it. This is only the first draft so there will a lot of revisions/rewriting ahead of me. 

I don't know why I'm dragging my feet. Part of me wants to tie everything up and write The End, but part of me doesn't. It's not like I don't have an idea for the next book - I've been jotting down character sketches, scenes, and the like for the next book as they appear in my mind for the last month or more. 

Maybe it's because I really like these characters. Maybe it's because I know the first set of revisions are going to require a lot of work - someone I didn't expect turned out to be the villain, not the person I thought it was so I'm going to have to go back and lay the ground work for that so it doesn't come out of left field for the reader. Or maybe it's because I know I'm not going to even attempt shopping it around after the revisions are done until the first full week of January or so.

Do you ever find yourself dragging your feet about something that you once looked forward to?

4 comments:

  1. Absolutely. I've put off revising two stories for almost two years now because... well, the first requires a lot of edits and the second requires a complete overhaul. I love both as they are but I know the changes are necessary. Doesn't mean I want to do it though.

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  2. Hi Miriam,
    You make me feel better about dragging my feet on finishing up this story. I think the main reason I'm delaying the completion is because I know it's going to need a lot of rewriting. Like you, I think I want to put it off as long as possible. Once this book is done, I'll have written two books, but I didn't publish anything this year so I need to get things ready for submission after the winter holidays are over. I've given myself until the end of September to have the first draft done.

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    1. I like your plan better than mine, lol. I'm not sure when I'll get back to my stories. I hope it's soon. The characters are talking again, more insistently than before. I'm starting to work on bits and pieces of their stories but time is one thing I can't dedicate to writing right now. Not that I dislike the reason, but a needy baby demands a lot and, well, I like her more than my characters at the moment. :)

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    2. I would like a baby more than imaginary characters too. :o) Bits and pieces are a good start. Before you know it, you may end up having revised/edited more than you thought you had.

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