I’ve been working hard on my novel set in the 90s.
After I began the first draft last year, I had to drop momentum because of Covid. You see, I need quiet to write. That’s why I often go to the library to work on a project. And the library was shut early to mid last year.
So, for the past few months I’ve dived into this project and am halfway through the initial draft of the final chapter. In it, our main couple’s issues are resolved. But I can’t remember the full detail of their problems.
Yes, I have an outline.
But I often panster a little as better ideas come through. I’ve embellished and twisted some of their difficulties, and as writing it has drawn out because of the pandemic, I’m staring at a blank page where the ending should be.
Another character has instigated misunderstandings and has misdirected loyalties, and even though I pretty much know what she’s done, the long time it’s taken me to work on this has blurred the full story for me.
It’s time to re-read my novel before I finish it.
I need perspective. Trying to write the finale now will just make this a nostalgic piece with a hazy ending. And as I wrote in another blog a few weeks ago, perhaps this is my writer’s instinct telling me I’m not done with this initial draft.
More building blocks need to be laid.
kevin klehr - author 