Musings from the Murky Middle
Every author has their "problem area" when they're drafting. Maybe it's the beginning, struggling to figure out where exactly the story starts. Maybe its the end, trying to bring all those threads together in a satisfying conclusion.
Or if you're like me, it's the treacherous murky middle. That point where I've been working long enough that I'm getting a bit weary of drafting and want to revise--but still have a LONG way to go to get to the end. The point where all the things I've planted in the beginning need to start paying off and I realize, uh oh, I didn't plant them right. The point where I become convinced that I'm not doing enough with the story--and yet equally afraid that I'm doing too much and won't be able to fit it all in. The point where my word count simultaneously makes me think, really, that's ALL I have??? and oh no, I'm running long, I need to go back and cut!!!!
It's the point in the draft where if I were slightly less determined I might just throw in the towel and think, well... I tried.
It's the point I'm battling right now.
Fortunately I AM determined--and *kinda* contractually obligated to write this thing--so I'm slogging through. But it's HARD. Hard like I have to force myself to open my draft every morning, hard. Hard like I'm choosing things like doing my taxes and reorganizing my loft and cleaning out my refrigerator over writing, hard.
And I wanted to share that with you guys, not because I'm whining (okay, maybe I'm whining a little...) but because I think sometimes we forget that writing really is work. Sure, it's also fun and rewarding in ways that someone who doesn't know what it's like to watch a story unravel will never fully understand. But some scenes are also harder than others and some sections take longer to come together and sometimes you have to just slog through--and that's okay. That's normal. And honestly, it's what makes reaching "The End" or finishing a revision that much more rewarding.
So I'm pushing through the murky middle muck, partially because I have to (again, the whole "contractually obligated" thing takes this to a whole new level of real) but mostly because I know it's just part of the process. The home stretch--my favorite part of writing, where I'm so close to the end I almost can't type the words as fast as they come to me--is somewhere out there on the horizon. I'll get there sooner or later. One word at a time.
What about you guys--what's your biggest drafting challenge?
Or if you're like me, it's the treacherous murky middle. That point where I've been working long enough that I'm getting a bit weary of drafting and want to revise--but still have a LONG way to go to get to the end. The point where all the things I've planted in the beginning need to start paying off and I realize, uh oh, I didn't plant them right. The point where I become convinced that I'm not doing enough with the story--and yet equally afraid that I'm doing too much and won't be able to fit it all in. The point where my word count simultaneously makes me think, really, that's ALL I have??? and oh no, I'm running long, I need to go back and cut!!!!
It's the point in the draft where if I were slightly less determined I might just throw in the towel and think, well... I tried.
It's the point I'm battling right now.
Fortunately I AM determined--and *kinda* contractually obligated to write this thing--so I'm slogging through. But it's HARD. Hard like I have to force myself to open my draft every morning, hard. Hard like I'm choosing things like doing my taxes and reorganizing my loft and cleaning out my refrigerator over writing, hard.
And I wanted to share that with you guys, not because I'm whining (okay, maybe I'm whining a little...) but because I think sometimes we forget that writing really is work. Sure, it's also fun and rewarding in ways that someone who doesn't know what it's like to watch a story unravel will never fully understand. But some scenes are also harder than others and some sections take longer to come together and sometimes you have to just slog through--and that's okay. That's normal. And honestly, it's what makes reaching "The End" or finishing a revision that much more rewarding.
So I'm pushing through the murky middle muck, partially because I have to (again, the whole "contractually obligated" thing takes this to a whole new level of real) but mostly because I know it's just part of the process. The home stretch--my favorite part of writing, where I'm so close to the end I almost can't type the words as fast as they come to me--is somewhere out there on the horizon. I'll get there sooner or later. One word at a time.
What about you guys--what's your biggest drafting challenge?
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