The double-edged sword of finals

[Mystic Blossom]

I have a first draft of a novel that I am this close to finishing. Seriously. One or two more chapters and the baby's ready to be shoved in a sock drawer to await brain cleansing and subsequent editing. The problems is I'm running into finals. Next week is finals week, and this week is pretty much Get Ready For Finals Week. I don't mind finals all that much. I recognize their necessity in the chain of my college education, and as long as I manage my time well, I'm never like, "Oh crap I have a project due in ten minutes that I haven't started ahhhh."

So with this time management, it actually leaves me with a couple of hours a night to do the things I would like to do, rather than the things I have to do. And the whole no bedtime in dorms thing is also very convenient. So I finish all the work I should do today. I clean my room a little bit in preperation for going home. I sit down at my computer. I prepare myself to write at least a page of this novel.

And my brain. Has shut. Down.

So what am I going to do? Probably play video games, and shut my brain off some more. Damn you, finals, you've done it again. Looks like I'll have to wait till I get home to finish the thing.

[Bartholomew]

Ironically, I'm having the opposite problem. I've been NOT writing all semester, and now, come finals, all I can focus on is this damn novel...

[DamaNegra]

Ha!! Amateurs!! I did NaNo during finals :)

[lfraser]

Concentrate on the finals. Get them done, get them out of your head, and then get back to your writing.

[NeuroFizz]

Consider your finals, and your schoolwork in general, preparation for being a writer (regardless of your chosen major). Most writers need a day job to support their writing, most notably early on. Give your classes all the attention they require. Period. Worry about your writing after your finals are over. So what if it delays you by a few weeks, or even a few months.

[III]

FACT: I wish I'd had a prof like NeroFizz when I was in college.