i can see the finish line but...

JANE007 said:

Do you have these problems?

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Yes.

How do you get your mojo back?

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Just sit there and flippin' write it.

You may be at the point of being (at some level) afraid to finish it. Force yourself to write, even if it all turns out bad.

Or ... are you entirely certain that you haven't already finished it? Is it possible that the reason you can't go on right now is because the only two words you have left to type are "The End"?

Every single time I get sick and tired of a novel, to the point that I hate working on it, it means one thing.

The novel is done.

I should just type "the end" and be done with it, but I don't because I want to hit a certain word count or some other silly reason. If the novel is done, it's done. If you don't have any compelling reason to write the last chapters (are all the story lines wrapped up? Are the characters where they should be?) why force it?

Finish it, Jane. For motivation, think about what will happen if you don't. All that work. All that emotion. All that YOU...for nothing.

I know from personal experience the fear you're dealing with right now. It happened to me. And I gave in to it. A few weeks away turned into a few months, until (sit down for this) it was FIVE YEARS before I wrote again. Believe me, the time piles up while your not looking incredibly fast. I'm back at it now, but all that momentum I had has to be restarted. I kick myself when I think of all the things I could have written in that time.

Don't give in. You'll never forgive yourself.

I've hit the same point in my WIP, five months (every day, minimum 2 hours, including Birthdays and Xmas!) and 180k words into the first draft. I also hit it near the end of my first, also 5 months etc etc.

If this is your first Jane then I know how scared and or worried and or confused and or disillusioned you are. How can something this close and personal, that you've put so much into, begin to p**s you off?

Because I've already been there, I know what it is that I have to do. Finish the f****ing thing!
I don't know if this helps or not, but when I was at the point of almost giving up with the first, then probably giving up writing forever, and without priming or having it recommended to me, I picked up The Alchemist from the library, and in that, towards the end of the story, the boy almost gives up his search when within sight of his goal. I'm not one for religion or spirituality or alot of the stuff that Mr Coelho writes, but that one episode struck home. The details are in the book. If you can get hold of it i recommend it. Would only take two hours to read. WHen i finished it I booted up the PC and two weeks later I had the book finished.

Trouble is a little different with this one though. I havent written the end, but I'm squeezing the middle of what I planned and sketched until the end comes faster. But i'll finish it, and, because you reminded me, i'm giving myself the deadline of another two weeks!

Good luck and thanks ;-)

James beat me to it. It's fear of failure, and it's not uncommon.

I know the feeling exactly! Just get it done, never mind how you feel. Believe me, it's normal!

I've gone through the same thing. I put my WIP aside a year and a half ago b/c I was stuck and so sick of the characters. Even though others read it said they really liked it, I kept thinking my main character was whiny and the story was boring.

Now that I've picked it up again after that long, and reread it, I like it. Now I just want to hurry up and finish it before those feelings come back

I'm just finishing up the third or fourth major rewrite of my novel, and yes, I'm sick to death of it at this point. It has nothing to do with failure (for me). I think when you work on something for a long period of time and you approach the finish line, it's only natural to want to finish it as soon as possible (so you don't have to look at it anymore -- at least for a while). So push through it!