Oh crap - I'm stuck...

[blgarver]

Okay guys, I'm in the panicky part of finishing my first book...i'm about fifty or so pages from the end.  I think.  I didn't outline this one so, you know, it could go anywhere. 

But now I'm losing steam...I'm about 320 pages in and I'm losing it.  I'm hesitant to write the coming scenes because they feel forced and unintersting.  Yeah I know, shame on me for not outlining, but it's just the way I do it.  I'm gonna have to outline my next book, because it's too big to handle otherwise. 

Anyway, I'm sure all of us have gotten to points where we lost steam and have no idea where to go, or if we know where we want to go, we have no idea how to get there.  What do you guys do to freshen up your mojo?  Rekindle the passion you had just a few days before? 

Could it be that it's just cold feet about finishing my first major piece?  I'm starting to lose confidence right here at the end?  Has that ever happened to anyone?  I'm freaking out here, because I want to finish this thing so I can breath for a week or so. 

Well, until I hear back with some ideas of how to fluff the pillow of my mind and spice up the passion I once had for this story, I'm gonna go to the bookstore and flip through some of those inspiration books to see if I can kickstart anything. 

Thanks!

waiting desperately,
BLG

[Josh]

A few ideas. But first, a few questions.

Are you stalled because you just don't know where to take it? Or do you know how it ends, but realize that the conclusion doesn't have the spice it once did? Sure, a big part of it can be nerves, and congratulations on getting this far. A lot of people with ideas for a story never even get around to actually writing it. Know this--you can get the story done. You've come this far. You will finish. Don't think of it as defeat, nor do you have to sail through the ending as fast as you may have some of those sticky thickets at the beginning or middle portions. The ending is important, so it's not a bad thing to spend your time on. Also know that once you've got that first draft, you can always come back and change it. Better to have the draft and know it will need some work than to not finish at all. Get through it, give yourself a breather, and then time for revisions.

Now for the ideas.

1. Write a synopsis of everything that has happened so far. Start at the beginning and summarize it in a couple of pages up to where you are. This will help you regain a bit of focus as to what is actually happening in the overall scheme of the story, and might actually help you remember a few points that you might've forgotten along the way, ones that could help you tie everything together.

2. Give your characters some sit-down interviews. Literally type up an interview with your main characters (and some minor ones if you want) and ask them what they think of the story so far, and how they want to see the ending happen from their perspective. It can be fun when their answers take on a life of their own.

3. Write some backstory stories. One thing I enjoy doing with a character is to take them and write an entirely separate quick short story about something that happened in their life before, after, or alongside the novel I'm working on. Sometimes it helps me understand them better. Sometimes it just spotlights a part of their world I never knew before. Either way, it keeps me in that particular setting and character, but lets me expand from the constraints of that particular story that is giving me trouble. Don't let this sidetrack you entirely though. Maybe spend a day or two at it, and then go back to your main project.

4. Give yourself a short breather. There's nothing wrong with that. A day or two (not much more, I'd say) to just let the ending and all the plot threads sit in a pile. Mull over it. Write some notes. Give it time to stew. Your brain has been bashing out this story for a bit now, right? It may need to catch that final wind, but it will happen. Trust me. I know the exact feeling you're talking about, and it is simply a matter of checking the knobs on all the doors and trying to figure out which one has a tiger and which one has a lady behind it. One of them will unlock and open for you to step through. You'll find yourself wriggling with excitment and anxious to get to those final scenes as everything starts to fall in place.

Good luck, and good writing.

www.jrvogt.com

[terioncalling]

Usually when I get stuck I just sit back and wait for inspiration for continuance to come.  Though that's probably not the best idea and is the reason I haven't yet rewritten the second chapter of a story like I've been meaning to for about a month.

Take Josh's advice more than mine.  Me and my uuber sense of procrastination are going to be over here in a panic because I'm about to be late to my Shakespeare class, heheh.   

[Kali]

Go back and start your first top-to-bottom edit.  Fill in the plot holes, add in descriptions where you realize you were vague, fix the typos, reword klunky sentences. 

If you've done that, I will note that the incredibly prolific mystery author Lawrence Block advises to sometimes just push through.  He says that he remembers writing scenes in novels that felt forced and stilted, but when he goes back and reads the published novel he honestly can't tell the difference.  It was his mood, not the writing that was off.

If that doesn't appeal, try writing the summary outline you'll need to send to some publishers.  This is not an outline like you learned in school.  This is a synopsis of the story:  what happened, who it happened to, what the reader sees.  Do NOT leave out things to make the editor want to read the book to find out what happens.  They're not amused by that, I hear.  Just write the synopsis.   Not all publishers will want this; you'll have to read their guidelines.  Some want a cover letter and the first 50 pages, some want the cover letter only, some want a cover letter and the first three chapters, and some will want a synopsis.  So have one handy.  These are NOT easy.  There are some good outline/synposis examples here. http://www.sfwriter.com/ouindex.htm

And while you're at it, work on your cover letter.  One page, no more, brief description of the novel.  There're websites out there with sample cover letters that'll help you see how you should arrange yours.  This is a good article on writing a query letter: http://www.sfwa.org/writing/query.htm

Let us know how it works out.

[etoiline]

I'm having this trouble too--I've got the very last page written, but the chapters leading up to that are driving me bonkers. I even have a vague outline of what's going to happen, but it's a little scary to realize that 'hey, something I've written is approaching its end.'

What I really need is time to sit down and go over everything and just hit my ideas over an anvil until they're malleable enough to fit together. I know they do, I just haven't found that spark yet.

Thanks for the ideas, esp. the synopsis and cover letters bits. Hopefully I'll have time to implement them soon...

~Cal

[Drew]

Walk away a bit.  If it feels forced, go back to it in awhile and see if it still feels that way.

[blgarver]

Okay...good, good, I'm learning...

I'm gonna try writing a synopsis of everything that has happened so far. And possibly a second synopsis including cuts and additions so I can be a little more prepared for the second draft. 

However, the end is still perplexing me a little, and after taking in the advice thus far (which I appreciate immensely, by the way, thank you guys) my question/conundrum has changed a bit.

I haven't picked up any bits of info from the writing books I've read, but maybe it's there and I just overlooked it.  Anywho, here's the evolved question:

In your guys opinions, what should the end of a story do?  I mean, functionally?  I know the textbook "it should resolve all the plots and subplots and yadda yadda" but there's gotta be more than that.  I read Koontz's "The Face" and really liked it, but the end was kind of blah. Left me with literary blue balls, I guess.  I don't want to do that to my eventual readers (crosses fingers).  So, any advice on what things to do to make a good ending?

[Josh]

I guess it depends on how you want the reader to feel upon finishing your book. Is it a series that you want them eager to return to? Do you want to invoke warm, cozy feelings of satisfaction like after having finished a good meal, or do you want the reader to feel like they just stepped off a roller-coaster, with shaky legs and a need to get some fresh air (but still exhilarated)?

One thing I try to avoid is dragging out the ending too far. I do tend to have a kind of epiloguish closing scene that ties a few threads together after the final crisis explodes/implodes and the world has been saved. A chance for some character resolution, a hint of future danger still lurking in the shadows perhaps, or a spark of hope igniting where there was none before. That final scene can serve many purposes. I don't think you want to end the story right after the bad guy got shot, fell off the cliff, or got a stake through the heart. Most readers will want a glimpse of the life the characters will continue to follow after they've survived whatever trials they've suffered through. They want to feel like the story goes on even after they've closed the book (or at least I do). So...maybe a scene or two after the climactic battle, or whatever, for closure...the resolution of a subplot or some such. An emotional farewell, maybe. Though you certainly don't want to fall into the trap of too many endings, or else all the tension that drove your story to this point is going to sputter out. You get this in the movie A.I., for instance, or even, as some complained, in the Lord of the Rings movie. The summation of my philosophy? Give 'em closure, but still leave them wanting more. It's a fine balance. You'll find it.


www.jrvogt.com

[blgarver]

Awesome, reading that post just gave me an idea.  It's just fledgling glimpse right now, but i'm gonna work off it. 

The whole showing hope where there was none before...I'm gonna do a variation of that.  Huzzzah!

Thanks a million guys!  And keep the input coming, just reading this stuff gets my brain working.

cautiously optimistic
BLG

[Drew]

Okay...good, good, I'm learning...

 In your guys opinions, what should the end of a story do? 

Whatever works for you.  If it's somthing different, all the better.

[CynDe]

I understand the panic when the end looms on the horizon...it is scary to see such a big project end, especially if it is your first really big piece of writing.

Are you seeing the climax of the story, or the end of the book? They are not necessarily the same thing. When I got stuck on the steps to the climax, I wrote it first, then worked backwards to the point where I was stuck.

[blgarver]

Yeah, it's the climax.  But I got the resolution pretty much nailed down, so that helped me sort through what should happen in the climax.  Of course, now that I've gotten some stepping stones to jump to, I haven't written in a couple of weeks.  Stupid irony. 

I got stuck right when I went on my vacation from work, so I had all that free time and hardly wrote anything.  It's a damn shame.

[Maiafay]

Yeah, it's the climax.  But I got the resolution pretty much nailed down, so that helped me sort through what should happen in the climax.  Of course, now that I've gotten some stepping stones to jump to, I haven't written in a couple of weeks.  Stupid irony. 

I got stuck right when I went on my vacation from work, so I had all that free time and hardly wrote anything.  It's a damn shame.

Glad you got yourself back on track. I usually already have the ending in mind and sometimes even written out beforehand. It's the "middle" I have issues with...and usually drive myself nuts on how to bring it together. I read Jim Butcher's Big Swampy Middle on his LJ...and it's helped some. Good Luck.