The Final Chapter for From the Write Angle

If you haven't heard yet, my friends and I over at From the Write Angle are lowering the curtain over at our blog. It was a tough decision, but it's time. We've all gotten busy, busy, busy, and we're not able to commit to the time needed to keep the blog strong. If you haven't read the final post, it's a good one, and in the comments many of our contributors are doing updates about then/now.

From the Write Angle started in 2011. In some ways, it seems eons ago, in others, only a heartbeat or two.

It's natural to look back and to look ahead during a time like this. I haven't sent out a single query or published a single book in that time. I know to some that would seem inconceivable, but it's true. So, what have I been doing? Working on my craft. I'm a hands-on learner, so I've been writing and trying and learning. And improving.

While I may not have my stories out in the real world yet, I'm SO much closer to having a product I'll be proud to share.

My buddies over at From the Write Angle are a large part of that. So many talented writers who are so willing to share and help out others! I've already bought and read at least a dozen books by my fellow FTWAers and I'm looking forward to many more.

It's been a very good ride at FTWA, and I'll miss the regular contact with my colleagues and my new blogger buddies, but I know we'll all keep in touch.

Have you been part of a group blog? It's such a great way to grow and learn and share! 

Wrapping it Up

I'm finishing up my NaNo draft - 64k and counting. I've left myself tons of notes along the way about things to add, things to polish, and things to change.

The last few chapters are waiting for me and I have to plow my way through. While I have an idea what's going to happen (the main characters will live and get their HEA), it's the getting there that's tough. 

Endings aren't easy for me. Tying all those plot lines together isn't my strength - probably because I don't plot in advance. One of my MCs is currently in major trouble and the other is oblivious, but closing in.

The next few scenes need to be full of action and emotion. I think I'm good with the emotional part of it all, but the action sequences are more difficult. By focusing on the emotion of the characters going through the actions, my writing is getting stronger, but it's not there yet. I'll probably end up rewriting these chapters a dozen times. *sigh*

How about you, are you good at wrapping it all up at the end of your stories, or is it a challenge for you, too?

Dear Author I Shall Not Name

A book really surprised me last night, but not in a good way.

I'd picked up a book by a new-to-me author. I liked the premise and the characters sounded fun. I enjoyed the set up of the story, the way I could see what the characters couldn't see coming. It's a romance and I thought the author had some unique twists and turns for her characters to face. The dialogue was great and for the most part their interactions were fun and honest. The story was working at a solid B+ for me.

Then I got to the last page.

I'd spent a few hours with these characters, I'd gotten to know them and I liked them. I wanted them to have their HEA (happy ever after). And I thought they were getting it - I liked the way the author was setting it up, another good twist (or so I thought). Then the last page exploded it all.

To me none of it made sense. The direction the last page took was in exact opposition to the characters & their goals & their feelings.

The author probably intended it as a cliffhanger (there is a book 2), but it didn't work for me at all. Not only would I downgrade the story to a D or worse, I will never read the next book. In fact I doubt I will ever read anything by this author again.

As a romance writer, I tend to prefer HEA or happy-for-now endings, but ambiguous endings can totally rock too (think The Giver or Possession). Above all the ending has to make sense and be true to the rest of the story.

This one didn't and wasn't & I felt cheated out of the hours I'd spent with the book.

Okay, rant over. No, I will not reveal the book or author, nor will I write a review - I only comment on books I've enjoyed enough to share. But I probably will stew over it for a little while longer.

And you can bet I'm going to be looking more closely at the endings for my own stories!

How about you, do you get annoyed by shocker endings? Do you have things that turn you off authors forever too?

Happy Dance!

I just finished typing the last chapter of the Steampunk novel I've been working on! Big time happy dance! I'd started the last 3 or 4 chapters 4 or 5 different times, but nothing felt right. I kept saving the files, then deleting everything I'd added and trying again. And again.

Finally had a bit of a light-bulb moment and realized I needed to delete one more chapter. It's where things had gone from exciting to bleh. And nobody wants bleh, especially at the end of their novel.

Once I deleted it and started from there, it more or less flew out of my fingers.

One of the sub-plots tied itself up in a nice pretty bow for me. And even though it's not a bright, shining, happy-ever-after ending, I like it.

It's happy enough - don't think my personality would allow anything else - but it's not saccharine sweet. They're battered, bruised, exhausted. But they've fixed the big problem and things are finally looking up for them.

I think the impetus for the ending came from knowing I had a whole hour to write this afternoon. In a row!! You have no idea how rare that is. It's actually been almost an hour and a half now. This never happens. Ever!

I know there's still tons of work to do - lots of revising/editing to come, but I'm still happy dancing. This is a much stronger first draft than my last one. I don't have nearly as many useless words. The pace is better. So, I'm feeling good about diving back in to do some polishing.

Do you ever have troubles with your endings? How have you resolved them? Did you plow on through or go back and delete?

Breakthrough Moment!

Phew! For a bit there, I wondered if I would find an ending for my Steampunk NaNo.

If you've been following my blog for a bit, you might remember I blogged about this ms a while ago. Endings come first for me. I don't outline, but I pretty much know where I'm going anyway. Not for this one. I got images of the mc skulking around alleys with his tinkerings, but no ending.

I figured it would just happen. Silly me. :)

Tonight while I was typing - okay, deleting the last 2 chapters - I finally listened to the mc. He wanted to go sideways and I'd been resisting. Again, silly me.

Sideways we went. And suddenly he stumbled onto a secret that connected all the little clues I'd left throughout the ms. Weird. Exhilerating. But weird.

1000 words flew out of my fingers before I could blink. I'm not done yet. In fact, there's a fair bit to tie up now. But I know where I'm going!! Please feel free to toss some confetti!

What's your best breakthrough moment?

Elusive Endings

I'm having some difficulty squeezing in time for my writing. And it's not all due to pre-holiday prep, report card season and all the other nuttiness that goes with family life.

I've been procrastinating because I'm just not sure which finish I want to put on the NaNo novel. I'm close to the end. Probably between 5k & 10k to go. But I can't get it written.

My dilemma is in how the book needs to finish. I just can't see the ending clearly. This is weird for me. Usually it's the ending scene I see first. It's where the story starts for me. When I'm creating units for school, I always start with the test or culminating task first as well. Some people think I plan backwards, but I always want to know where I'm headed before I start.

So... I'm thinking of going back to the start and doing a read through and a quick outline at the same time. Maybe I'll find the ending in there. I do have a few possibilities floating around, but none of them are telling me they're the "right" ending.

This method feels a little like cheating. Silly, but true. Maybe I should just plow through it and see what happens. My characters do have a tendency to go where they like anyway.

Or maybe I should continue to let it stew in the back of my brain and let the ending appear when it's good and ready.

Have you ever been stumped near the end of your ms? How did you get yourself through it?

Capote - "Finishing a book..."

Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the yard and shot it.
-- Truman Capote

Yikes!!

I'm currently finishing off the rough draft of my NaNo novel. I don't think I'll feel at all like Capote when it's done. Of course, I still have several rounds of revisions and edits to do. So it won't really be done for a while yet.

His quote is probably referring to finishing the final stage of the novel - and giving it over to editors and publishers. I haven't got to that stage yet. Or maybe he means when even that process is done, and you have absolutely no control over it because it's printed. Will I feel like I've killed my baby?

My previous ms is still awaiting another revision round. I'm hoping to let it go off into the real world someday in the not too distant future. Will I feel like Capote?

What about you? If you've been published, did you feel like you'd shot your child? If you're yet-to-be-published, how do you imagine yourself feeling?