Comments on: The agony of finishing

By: Christina

Christina — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 09:04:26 +0000

I am in awe of writers who get past the first draft with neurons intact. Maybe that’s because I’m an editor, and my darlings self-destruct as soon as they see me turn on Track Changes.
They say dentists are at risk of a short life because they don’t want to hurt their patients. Sadly, editors are sadists by comparison. (I didn’t say that. I’m quoting my writerly alter ego.)
Far be it from me to make an author miserable, but whenever a writer writes, there is the danger of a skulking editor. So let me whisper this, lest you leave yourself unprotected.
On this interesting thread you say:
“Having spent the last four weeks embedded in the finishing off process, I thought I might share some of my observations, lest it benefit those who closely follow behind. ”

What danger can there be in sharing your observations? Yet ‘lest’ means ‘for fear that’, so I can only think that the reason your beneficiaries may be in danger is that they are following you too closely behind when they should have been following you in front.

My writerly alter ego has just reminded me that I still have to wrestle with writing a first draft, and no editor deserves to win. : )

By: phill

phill — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 13:00:52 +0000

I read this last night as Ant and I were discussing the latest couple of endings to stories of his I’ve read. Endings being a different, but similarly difficult, kind of finishing. As to when and how I finish, it’s hard to say.

I used to look back at stories that I’d considered finished at a prior stage of my life (where ‘prior’ could mean 3 years or 3 months or 3 weeks before), and wondering exactly what I was thinking letting this unpolished doggerel loose into the world. But I have learned to trust my past-self a bit more of late, and with that trust has come a letting go of stories that might not be quite up to my current standard. If nothing else, it allows me to see my writing progress in discrete stages, rather than the versions of stories all evening out to an average centred around whatever skill level, or particular tone, or style that I’m working with at the time.

Does that answer your question? Probably not. Okay, final crack: I find finishing agony, like you do, but there does come a point where I’m very much sick of working on something, and the diminishing returns of working on the story become very apparent. And it’s at this stage that I either a) send it to a publication for consideration, b) show it to friends for critique, or c) put it in a drawer if I’m convinced I’m an idiot and it needs more work done on it with fresh eyes.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 11:12:56 +0000

I know what you mean about exercise Laurie. The only time I actually enjoy the gym is when I have a story on my mind. For some strange reason I find it very inspiring to watch someone struggling on the stairmaster as I unlock a story tangle.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 04:47:17 +0000

A timely post, Mark! I too am struggling to finish two short stories, both of which seem close, but not quite (one even got this exact hand-written response from a journal a couple of months back).

I find my readers help a great deal in times of frustration, but also find it helpful to bash out a first draft when truly stuck. That way, I have another iron in the fire, and am not solely fixated on revision.

That said, I do find I need time to close out that last 10% too, and in those cases I will zone out with headphones (usually no music playing, it’s more symbolic than anything else) and nut out what I need to do to complete the story, turning my phone and net connection off beforehand.

My final ally is a good long walk or bike ride, and I often have ‘aha!’ moments when generally in transit, whatever the mode of transport.

Ultimately though, it’s that persistence, right? That willingness to see the story through to the initial vision you once had for it…however long it takes.