Over the last few days, I've been an absolute mess and there hasn't been a known explanation for it. I've been weepy, cranky, broody... Just picture your basic angsty alpha hero only very short, very thin, wearing sweatpants and glasses. Alas, this is me. I have morphed into the demonic creature my DH not-so-fondly refers to as "The Dragon."
About mid-morning, I was having a tantrum. When asked why I was having one, I thought for a second and realized that I had no idea. In fact, the subject shouldn't have riled me up to dragoness proportions at all. As I finally sat down at my computer to begin the last chaper of my 2nd paranormal, it hit me. I've been acting like The Hulk all week long...because separation anxiety has already kicked in.
The thing about me is I cannot - absolutely cannot - spent more than three months on one story. It makes me crazy. In the midst of my 2nd paranormal, however, my wheels were spinning but nothing was moving. I still loved the premise, the plot, the characters, but my muse packed her little bags and went to spend a few weeks at Neverland Resort. While Tink was doing body shots with The Lost Boys All Grown Up on the beautiful white shores of the Mermaid Lagoon, I found myself in the midst of a manuscript I couldn't finish.
Late July, Tink brought her tan hide home and decided to get her lazy butt back to work. This month marks the sixth month on this manuscript. I'm almost to the end and...I'm utterly depressed. I've spent so much time with these characters that parting with it is proving to be so wrenching, it puts my 3-day jag over completing my first manuscript back in...oh, hmmmm, December 2004 to shame.
Thankfully, just in time for my baby blues, in the September Romance Writers Report Maria Connor's "What's Standing Between You and The End?" feature about what holds us back from writing that final part of the story appeared. Thank you, Maria. I'm happy to report that I will be finishing my paranormal tomorrow...after my date with Ben & Jerry tonight!
Writers, sound off: what cures your ending-the-story woes?
