February 2024 Writing update

Right, so...the gross and ugly part of Act Three of the novel has been fully written, or, at least, it feels that way. The end is in sight, which means I’m getting to the part of my keyboard where things are being wrapped up rather than set up. I’ve passed that portion of the story where I can’t help but look in the rear-view at all the things that might have gone wrong, and now must be forced to look ahead to see what’s coming, and how I can meet it head-on.

And, by the way, its a lot more enjoyable and relieving to start taking down the spinning plates one by one rather than adding more and more, continuously trying to balance them until you’ve reached the point where it is appropriate for the “show” to start concluding.

That said, there’s still a long road ahead. The big reveal in the drawing room, a la Christie’s Hercule Poirot, still waits for me. I’ve still got to stick the landing. I’ve still got to fine-tune the scent on the last bits of red herring that I’ve left out for my future readers. I’ve still got to make a reveal that’s satisfying, not only to the plot of the novel but also to the themes it’s trying to convey. I’ve still got to make all the threads of this mystery untwist and unwind to show that they’ve been pointing towards this one answer the entire time. And sure, those tasks are a lot more fun for me than slogging through the middle of the story where I feel like I’m lost in a cave trying to reach the next checkpoint, but that doesn’t mean they’re easy. In fact, if I don’t do this stuff right, I ruin anything I might have done well leading up to this point. After all, the ending is what sticks with you, isn’t it? That’s the final taste that’s left in your mouth when the screen goes black or you shut the cover on the story.

I think I can pull it off. But there’s no better way of finding that out than by doing it. Here goes...