When writing anything other than a
blog post or a short picture book text, as the saying goes— it’s a marathon,
not a sprint.
Beginnings are easier for me,
because they come in as a sort of voice with sentences formed that have wind beneath
their wings. Watching a helicopter lift off would be a good analogy to the
experience.
Endings have their own energy.
Everything that came before is adding up, and the reflection of the opening
hovers over-- projecting the outline of the runway to landing.
It’s the long middle that looms
over like a gray cloud every time. The feeling that I have no idea where to go
and my mind feels empty. How will I get through today's section? I have nothing.
A few years ago, when I knew I’d
be writing middle grade novels not as a one-off fluke (my first) but every year after that, I devised a technique that works for me during those
seemingly endless middle of the story writing sessions.
I end each writing session with an
evocative sentence. One that charms me. One that hopefully intrigues a reader.
One that does the job the very next morning when I sit down feeling I have
nothing to say.
The same words writers conjure to
draw the reader in serve to pull this writer into the next chapter, and off we
go.
I resolved never to end a day’s
session in a static place, and this helped me get to the finish line one
section at a time.
If your artwork seems to move in
starts and stops, perhaps try this way. It takes self-discipline to halt the
vehicle just as it moves into a higher gear. But then, it takes self-discipline
to write a long story, paint an oil painting, or compose a symphony.
It’s all good. Happy navigating
the middles to you.
