From The Writing Cave

Are we there Yet?

February 17, 2021

People often ask me what part of my books is the most difficult to write. Fight scenes and sex scenes are up high on my list because of their physicality, but by far, the absolute most problematic part of the story to write is the end. No, not because I love the characters and don’t want their story to be finished, although I love my characters. It’s because-confession time–by the time I am writing the last ten to fifteen thousand words, I know what the ending will be, and now I’m bored. There. I said it. Yup, I get bored. Imagine reading a book, and someone comes and tells you the ending when you still have the last few chapters to read. How annoying, right? Knowing the end kind of takes the shine off the book. I should clarify. I am a pantser, so I don’t necessarily start the story with a specific bad guy/gal in mind. I am not sure what will happen, and I am clueless about how everything will work out other than I know it will work out. Once the whole story falls into place, I become restless. It takes a lot of discipline and copious amounts of chocolate to keep me writing all the way to the end. This boredom is what has kept me from writing a mystery. I would have to know who the “bad guy” is from the very beginning and where is the fun in that?