2.20.2005

Thoughts on Finishing My Novel, Part I

Novel-writing causes mental breakdowns, loss of sleep, obsessive-compulsive behavior, brooding, snappishness, and the gaining of weight....No one on earth could have taught me to write a novel, not matter what format the class took on....Spouses and significant others and dear friends are absolutely necessary to novel-writing. No amount of kind words and scraping off the floor will ever be enough....Poverty and ignorance are the best inducements to continue working....The closer the deadline, the worse the writing becomes; the farther away the deadline, the worse the work habits become....Beginnings and endings are easy and fun, but the middle will always kick your ass.

5 comments:

bR said...

I predict that comment of yours on deadlines will be published somewhere and, ten years from now, will be the most oft-quoted phrase in the Workshop.

Champagne this week?

SER said...

TLB, does this mean you have finished your novel, or does it mean that you are still in the process of finishing it? Please advise.

TLB said...

Still finishing, alas, but close enough to the end to taste it.

dunkeys said...

What does it taste like?

TLB said...

Tastes like chicken....Mmmmm....