So I think that I’m about 5,000 – 10,000 words from the end of the first draft of my WIP.
It’s taken me months to get here and now I can see the end. I can taste it like mint chocolate chip ice cream on my tongue. I find myself thinking, “I could probably stay up all night tonight and just finish the damn thing, or I bet if I left the kids with my husband and spent all day Sunday at the library, I could finish it this weekend.”
At this point it’s so tempting to rush, but I’m trying really hard not to. I’m coming up to the climax of the book and, well, that’s kind of an important part. Sure, I could stay up all night and just get through it – throw a bunch of words at the page:
She did this and then this and then he said this and then this and it was really bad but then it was really good and the end.
And I’d be done. But all that would mean is that I’d have to do twice as much work during revisions when I’d have to actually take the time to think each scene out the way I should be doing now.
So, while my goal is to finish my WIP by the end of this month, my goal is also to do it right.
It's hard not to rush. I probably rush like crazy in my first drafts regardless, but you're right - the anticipation of the end does pull you faster. Congrats on easing off the gas to do it right!
ReplyDeleteIt's a struggle for me to not rush the endings, but you're right; if you take more time with the ending, it reads better and there's less rewriting to do.
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