Comments on: The Writer’s Marathon & The Curse of Heartbreak Hill

By: robintvale (Jessica)

robintvale (Jessica) — Mon, 29 Apr 2019 04:21:33 +0000

You get us, you really do. *sobs*

I’ve chopped it up like a salad made by a deranged knife-wielding demon. I sit here and cry, then go back at it and do another paragraph, have a smoke, go back do another, drink more coffee and O.D. on energy drinks. Maybe bang my head on the desk for a while then do another sentence…

By: excessivelyperky

excessivelyperky — Fri, 25 May 2018 05:39:09 +0000

Oh, I know this one! At the two-thirds mark, I generally begin to hate my characters and want them all to die in some horrid mutual disaster. But those are hard to sell. Sometimes I write that scene anyway. After that, I remember what my ending is supposed to be (sometimes I know my last line, yum!), and then I re-outline. I write everything that has to happen till the end, and then figure out in which order they need to go. At that point, I work hard on mentally ‘dreaming’ the story (doesn’t everyone have their own interior holodeck?) so it becomes so real it’s not that hard to write down what people are doing. Wish they’d clean the clam dip off the rug, though.

By: Norah Colvin

Norah Colvin — Mon, 21 May 2018 10:56:14 +0000

I may not be writing a novel, but I face those same hills. My breath is coming in short bursts and I’ve a stitch in my side. I’m not sure how long I can keep going. Thanks for your encouraging article.

By: Kristen Lamb

Kristen Lamb — Mon, 21 May 2018 00:56:24 +0000

In reply to Barbie Riccardelli. If you don't rat yourself out, I correct them before approving ;) .

By: Barbie Riccardelli

Barbie Riccardelli — Sun, 20 May 2018 02:56:37 +0000

In reply to Barbie Riccardelli. Were...not were!! I can spell and do grammar and such.

By: Barbie Riccardelli

Barbie Riccardelli — Sun, 20 May 2018 02:55:35 +0000

Hey…I just wanted to say this was a good post from Cait. It seems like the flow and beat were right on. Thanks, Cait and Kristen for continuing to inspire.
Love,
Barb

By: Janice McL

Janice McL — Sun, 20 May 2018 00:43:32 +0000

OMG, I think Cait has been cruising around in my head. I’m 50,000 words in and exactly where she described. Let me tell you it does not help to know it gets even harder from here but it does help to know you’re not the first and won’t be the last.

Afraid I can’t agree with Rachel C. I keep telling myself I must become a reformed pantser but no matter how many plot points I settle on, my stories have minds of their own.

Love your posts Kristen. Thank you.

By: Rachel C. Thompson

Rachel C. Thompson — Sat, 19 May 2018 17:52:30 +0000

If you know what your major plot points are before you start, it’s all down hill.

By: Ramshah Akbar

Ramshah Akbar — Sat, 19 May 2018 05:09:51 +0000

I adore your posts Cait. Spot on!

By: Deborah Makarios

Deborah Makarios — Sat, 19 May 2018 00:06:04 +0000

With my first novel, I hit 30,000 words on the severalth attempt at a first draft and promptly lost the will to live. Or rather, I lost the will for most of my characters to live. So I blotted most of them out of existence and started over. And that time I made it all the way to the finish line!
Now I’m working on novel 2 and frankly, I don’t think I’ve experienced a time when the words just flow. It’s just an endless series of grabbing those beautiful scene-butterflies swirling round my head and pinning them to the page with word-nails.
And with that charming, cheery thought, I shall leave you. 🙂