Dragging my feet

Niiicola · Jan 24, 2012

I'm closing in on the end of a third draft. I've just finished writing the climax and am very satisfied with it this time around. But I'm having an awful time making myself write the denouement (and hence spending a lot of time here on AW). Usually when I dislike writing a section this much, it means there's something wrong and it needs a major overhaul. But this time around, I'm starting to wonder if it's just the fact that I'm on a bit of a downer after all the excitement.

Anyway, just wondering if this happens to anybody else? Do you ever dislike writing scenes that actually work just fine? Or am I kidding myself here?

Diana_Rajchel · Jan 24, 2012

It happens. It sounds like you just need a little distance from the manuscript. Maybe work on another project for a little while, and come back to it in a week?

SBibb · Jan 24, 2012

I'm not sure. It varies for me. At one point I had a scene that I read and really didn't like. I read it again a week or two later and thought it was fine.

Distance might help, or beta readers. If you still don't like it, then there might be a problem.

Devil Ledbetter · Jan 24, 2012

It may just be that it's the denouement.

When a scene won't come to me or feels wrong, or is a big struggle, I do a character interview and ask them what really happened. My characters never fail to come through with something much more interesting and fitting than what I had going.

dangerousbill · Jan 24, 2012

Niiicola said:
I'm closing in on the end of a third draft. I've just finished writing the climax and am very satisfied with it this time around. But I'm having an awful time making myself write the denouement

I had that happen once. I discovered that I didn't care about the denouement, and I finally concluded that a reader probably wouldn't either. So I just ended the story after the resolution. I cut off the last chapter.

Sure, some subplots were left hanging, but a reader already could make some shrewd guesses how they were going to turn out.

Chasing the Horizon · Jan 24, 2012

I always procrastinate like crazy about the final part of the final revision because 1) I don't want to say goodbye to the characters and 2) when I'm actually finished, I have to start putting together queries, and they call that Hell for a reason. For me, it doesn't mean there's anything at all wrong with the book.

Jamesaritchie · Jan 24, 2012

I don't think I've ever done three drafts in my life, but I get that same felling at whatever point I reach when I get sick of the whole novel.

When I hate rewriting a section it usually means I've done more than enough, and it's time to send the thing off.

Danthia · Jan 25, 2012

This happens to me pretty much every book. The fun is in the writing it, and by the time I get to the end I'm done. I want to go back and work on the revisions or get it sent off.

Folks have suggested taking time off, which does help. You might also try thinking about how you started the book, and what type of ending makes a nice mirror/bookend to that. That might spur some ideas and get the excitement going again.

You can also think about any loose ends you have that might need to be wrapped up. Sometimes those can be resolved at the very end.

Becky Black · Jan 26, 2012

I often have "finishing anxiety". Which wasn't helped when I messed up the ending on two drafts in a row (fixed them in the edits!) In the draft I'm anxious I'll mess up the ending. In the editing I'm anxious because finishing means I've then got to release my story out into the world (whether that was on fanfic sites in the old days, or nowadays submitting it) where it may be subject to other people being mean to it. And at both times it means saying goodbye to those characters, for a while at least, and I find it very hard to let go of characters.

Dragging my feet

Niiicola

Twitchy

Diana_Rajchel

Writing from my Seaside Palace

SBibb

Devil Ledbetter

Come on you stranger, you legend,

dangerousbill

Retired Illuminatus

Chasing the Horizon

Blowing in the Wind

Jamesaritchie

Danthia

Becky Black

Writing my way off the B Ark