Almost the Hardest Thing About Writing

The past couple of weeks have not been particularly productive writing days. And I refuse to trot out any of my over-worked excuses, because I know exactly what's going on. I'm avoiding writing because every story that I'm currently working on, stories that I want to be working on, is in more or less the exact same state.

It's Almost There.

An Almost There story has already been through multiple drafts. It's definitely been workshopped, often more than once. It starts more-or-less where it's supposed to start, it has an end with elements of 'surprising inevitability.' The scenes in the middle work, moving the story forward with gathering speed. It has a sense of place and a point of view that both fit the piece.

But it's not quite There. And that's one of the hardest things about writing.

You can tell you're Almost There when you get these kind of comments, and you agree with them:

"The final struggle, which echoes the flashback, is so important. Can we sit there longer?"

"Love the premise and the character. I think this just needs some thematic focus to pull the details together."

"Great stuff. Now set the moment to garner greater tension."

But you've already honed the tension, fleshed out the final struggle, focused on theme and character until your eyes started to cross.

How do you get There?

I don't know the answer, although I think I know where to look for it.

Tear things apart, and build them back up again. Put the story down, come back to it. Test out new sentences, new scenes, new dialogue. Save each version separately, because some of new drafts will be worse than the previous one, not better. Highlight and cut up your printouts. Read sections out loud, and listen. The better words are out there, somewhere, but it will take yeoman's work to find them.

Don't give up, even if you take a week off.

After all, these stories are Almost There.

Thanks for Reading,

Stephen