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<\/a><\/div>\n\u00a0With any luck, you know that wonderful pressure at the back of the head that comes when you are almost finished with a book and you HAVE TO FINISH IT NOW!<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve experienced that. (So has my family, poor schmoes.)<\/p>\n
However, I\u2019ve also had to reverse problem, rather more often. In fact, I\u2019m having it right now. I\u2019m almost done writing out my Tips, and because I\u2019m ALMOST done, some whacked part of my mind feels as if I AM done.<\/p>\n
Imagine a marathon runner who comes within sight of the Finish Line and says, \u201cOk, I see the end. I\u2019m done here.\u201d And stops running before he crosses the line.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s me.<\/p>\n
I see the end in sight and something deep inside says, \u201cRight, then, let\u2019s get on to the next project.\u201d Then Something Shiny distracts me and I\u2019m off. Forcing myself to finish those last three chapters, or that last 5,000 words or the final showdown between the white hat and black hat\u2026. Holy Gamoly, Batman! We\u2019re doomed!<\/p>\n
7 Tricks to Beat Fear of Completion <\/h3>\n
To entice, force, trick myself into finishing, I\u2019ve come up with several strategies.
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1. I buy myself a completely self-indulgent present, wrap it, and don\u2019t let myself open it until I\u2019ve finished. It\u2019s usually inexpensive and childish\u2014like a Katniss Barbie doll\u2014to deliberately reward the childlike part of me, which, I suspect, is the source of most of my impatience to get on to the next project. It\u2019s usually something I would never buy for myself, and that no one else would buy for me. Once I got a massage! Another time I just bought Twizzlers. Obviously, your choice of self-gift will be highly personal. <\/p>\n
2. I write the last scene, then the next to last scene, and so on, until I meet up with the spot I stopped. This works best if I\u2019m already very close to the end. <\/p>\n
3. I skip the hard scenes and go for the low hanging fruit. I don\u2019t do this most of the time, by the way. I prefer to start with the hardest scenes first, and use the easy scenes as rewards. But if I\u2019m hard pressed, I\u2019ll take the low road. <\/p>\n
4. I write at least the first sentence of each remaining scene. Again, this only works if you have a pretty clear idea of what scenes remain. <\/p>\n
5. I write the Script (dialogue only) of remaining scenes. <\/p>\n
6. I break down each scene into subparts and focus on finishing one subpart at a time. I write each scene and sub-scene on a To Do list and check it off as I go, so I have a sense of forward progress, however incremental. (I’ll go into more detail on this method tomorrow.)<\/p>\n
7. I take a lot of caffeine and stay up 24 hours, and just keep writing like a madwoman, until I collapse. Not really recommended, but it does work. <\/p>\n
Getting Back the Mood<\/h3>\n
Suppose you have either (A) veered off track, or (B) lost steam on your novel or (C) had to deal with other crazy stuff in Real Life and become derailed completely.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n If you prefer these Tips as an ebook you can buy it here for $0.99<\/a>:<\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n