Nike may be a heartless multi-national corporation but they did hire themselves some good Ad men. 'Just Do It' is a darn good slogan for just about anything in life. It's particularly fitting for writers. Or at least writers like me.
What kind of writer am I? I'm a procrastinator who, if he doesn't write every day, will find some distraction to keep me from putting words on page. I'm someone who chokes on endings, slowing way, way down on my page count the closer I get to the last chapter. I'm someone who has started a host of novels and short stories and have only recently started finishing them and sending them out.
you may be, like me, second-guessing yourself about the ending. Write it anyway. It may be (probably is) imperfect. Don't worry about that. Just finish it.
You may be like me, dreading the editing process. And you may think, somewhere inside your monkey mind, that as long as you don't finish the book, you won't have to edit it. Recognize that, ignore it. Just finish it.
You may be, like me, dreading the long and psychically painful process of submission and rejection. You have to do it. Don't worry about it, not now, not when the time comes to mail it. Right now, you have a story to tell. Tell it. Just finish it.
You may be, like me, questioning your skill as a writer. Thinking you don't have what it takes to make it out of the slush pile. You may think that this story is the worst thing you've ever written. Don't worry about the quality of your work. Writers are terrible at judging themselves. Just finish it.
The last 10% of the novel is the hardest part. We're fighting ourselves, not anything else. You can win. And you can prove it to yourself by just finishing it.
Write the last page. Put the last period in. Write 'The End'. Then go out, breathe, see your family and friends. Let that story sit. It can wait a month or so. You've finished it. It may never get easier but once you finish one story, KNOW that you can finish the next ones.
Good luck.
What kind of writer am I? I'm a procrastinator who, if he doesn't write every day, will find some distraction to keep me from putting words on page. I'm someone who chokes on endings, slowing way, way down on my page count the closer I get to the last chapter. I'm someone who has started a host of novels and short stories and have only recently started finishing them and sending them out.
you may be, like me, second-guessing yourself about the ending. Write it anyway. It may be (probably is) imperfect. Don't worry about that. Just finish it.
You may be like me, dreading the editing process. And you may think, somewhere inside your monkey mind, that as long as you don't finish the book, you won't have to edit it. Recognize that, ignore it. Just finish it.
You may be, like me, dreading the long and psychically painful process of submission and rejection. You have to do it. Don't worry about it, not now, not when the time comes to mail it. Right now, you have a story to tell. Tell it. Just finish it.
You may be, like me, questioning your skill as a writer. Thinking you don't have what it takes to make it out of the slush pile. You may think that this story is the worst thing you've ever written. Don't worry about the quality of your work. Writers are terrible at judging themselves. Just finish it.
The last 10% of the novel is the hardest part. We're fighting ourselves, not anything else. You can win. And you can prove it to yourself by just finishing it.
Write the last page. Put the last period in. Write 'The End'. Then go out, breathe, see your family and friends. Let that story sit. It can wait a month or so. You've finished it. It may never get easier but once you finish one story, KNOW that you can finish the next ones.
Good luck.
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