One Big Reveal Down, One to Go

Since my post about my conclusion terror, I've disciplined myself into trying to write consistently, and learned that most of my fear was just a result of being out of practice. Once I started sitting down and writing everyday, it started to get easier and easier, and I've been pretty happy with what I've written so far in my final chapters. I don't know how many of you are registered with the NaNoWriMo website, but they send out these weekly pep talks to encourage people to stay on track with their novel for the month. This week, I received a nice little email from Philip Pullman (whoa!, I know), and I think some of his words apply to what I'm talking about here:

"The second thing you need to remember is that if you want to finish this journey you've begun, you have to keep going. One of the hardest things to do with a novel is to stop writing it for a while, do something else, fulfill this engagement or that commitment or whatever, and pick it up exactly where you left it and carry on as if nothing had happened. You will have changed; the story will have drifted off course, like a sh ip when the engines stop and there's no anchor to keep it in place; when you get back on board, you have to warm the engines up, start the great bulk of the ship moving through the water again, work out your position, check the compass bearing, steer carefully to bring it back on track ... all that energy wasted on doing something that wouldn't have been necessary at all if you'd just kept going!"

Great advice, I think. Keep writing; it's the number one thing you hear from people in the business, but probably the hardest thing to actually do.

I've got one of my major plot twists revealed (the smaller of the two) and have the climactic battle and the final reveal to go. I've been pretty motivated in these last few days, and now it's time to keep that ship on course and get it done! Now everyone get back to steering your own ship towards its destination!