Many would-be writers start penning some terrific idea that
came to them in a dream or a random moment — comparatively few actually finish
the project. Somewhere along the line the words stop flowing and the partial
story gets shoved in a drawer or remains buried on a computer drive; eventually
the incomplete WIP (work in progress) gets lost.
It takes discipline to WIP that manuscript into a book.
Discipline and a few tricks that other writers WHO HAVE WRITTEN THE END have
used.
First of all – Write, Write, Write. Don’t stop midway and
begin editing. Of course if you see a glaring error or typo, or if you decide
your characters are headed in a direction you don’t want, it is okay to make a
few revisions, but don’t interrupt your creativity to do a line-by-line edit of
what you’ve written so far. Accept the fact that almost every writer creates an
unusable first draft and edits and final-edits are necessary before queries and
submitting the manuscript; and don’t be surprised to receive a shopping list of
MORE edits to be made by a potential publisher.
One trick some authors find useful in reaching The END is to
write the end first. Depending on your style this could mean actually writing
the final chapter bearing in mind that this could easily change when you
actually get to that point in the manuscript. My personal preference is to
decide where I would want my story to go such as do they get married, do they
discover some unknown truth that changes their lives, is there an attempt on
someone’s life that demands a heroic saving, or other specifics. I don’t
actually write the final chapter however I do have a pretty good idea about how
my story will end. Since I also allow my characters to write their own
motivation driven stories there are certainly times that my planned ending bears
no resemblance to the actual story. Another well-used habit of authors is to
visualize the story, as if you were watching a movie, right down to the final
scene — and then record what you’ve “seen”.
The reason that so many writers lose their way and never
complete the project is because they don’t feel they are writing the story they
first envisioned. Writing words down that come to mind faster than they can be
written can become tedious and frustrating. An excited writer may have shared
the story with someone who may have made suggestions or other remarks that
shook the writer’s confidence. Or maybe the writer has become fearful of imagined
“failure”, getting the book published only to be met with bad reviews and no
sales; although poor reviews and low sales might indeed be a possibility,
finishing a manuscript is in itself a wonderful accomplishment. And never be
fearful of poor reviews, you can’t expect everyone to like every book, just as
you probably wouldn’t choose to read every book on the shelf.
Writing Exercise:
Start with 15 minutes of Free-writing about any subject. Take a break
(no more than one day) and in two additional sessions of 30-minutes each, ADD
to the original writing segment so that you have one continuous (short) story.
Writing Prompt:
Write a list starting with two or more characters, a setting, a conflict
and how the story should end. Don’t go into too much detail.
Challenge Assignment: Using the list you made in
the Prompt, write the final chapter in full.
