The End is Near

[blgarver]

Okay, so it occurred to me the other day that I'm in the last part of the book i'm writing.  I have this last big sequence, and then the climax.  And that's it.  I'm done.  Well, minus the conclusion that is. 

But it was a really wierd feeling to be this close, and actually know where this last part is headed.  I can see the end of the tunnel now, and frankly, its terrifying.  This will be my first completed novel.  Whether it gets published or not is another story, but just completing one is going to be an amazing feeling.

Was anyone else scared to finish their first novel?  Or subsequent novels after that?

[Kiriath]

I wrote a 40K novella the other summer... but I don't remember writing it. I think I wrote it on pure instinct.

But right now? 100K, been writing it for more than a year, and I have about four chapters to complete it. That feels really frelling weird. It feels hyper and ... nervous?

[Richelle Mead]

I'm always relieved...and a little stunned.  My books unintentionally follow this sort of pattern of 4 parts: #1 - Set up the character, world, etc., #2 - Conflict escalates, #3 - More developments and investigation--which is the most challenging part for me! It can slow things down if you're not careful, and #4 - The climax, action, excitement, and ending.

Once I get into section #4, it's like an avalanche.  Things are moving so fast, and I get so excited to write it that I'm up 'til all hours, ignoring meals and other parts of my life, etc.  It just tumbles out, and it's exhausting.  When it does end, I mostly want to sleep and/or stare off into space.  Then I have to go clean it all up because I wrote so fast that it's filled with typos.   

Congrats by the way on being so close to finishing your novel!  That's fantastic.

[Josh]

I reread Jim's post from the summer about the murky middle of the book. That is definetely the hardest place to slog through for me, especially when I want to be beyond it and racing through those climactic scenes that I can visualize so crystal clear and with pretty sparklers going off everywhere.

sigh...

Anyways, congratulations on getting to the end of your story. Whenever I reach that point I find it...well...freeing, depressing, joyful, celebratory, saddening, exhausting...but most of all, hopeful that the story has been worth the trip and content that I at least had fun along the way.

[Velkyn_Faer]

It is a scary feeling. You write, and write, and write, and now, after all of it, it's almost over. You're probably feeling an affinity (sp?) to your characters by now, and to end it (I don't know if there's a sequel or not, so I'm assuming it's the end.) is kind of sad, really. You know these 'people' to their very soul. You created them, watched them win, lose, fight, and feel emotions, and now it's almost over.

I felt all that with my first (and now I dread editing it, because I did detach myself from them). There is a bit of relief, because when you hit that last key, you will know that everything is as it should be in that world.

Velkyn

P.S. Congrats, man, good luck on that final key.