Not sure if this is the right spot for this, but I really need help, encouragement.
I’ve been going like gangbusters on something I’ve been wanting to write for literally decades. I couldn’t wait to start writing in the morning and if I could have written in my sleep I would have. It has been flowing like the river Nile for weeks–since just before the Chauvin trial started. Since I reached chapter 14 and knew it was coming to an end I have been extremely depressed. I’m really having a hard time finishing.
I have read that this is normal, but how long does it usually last? Feeling like you’ve been thrown into the center of the earth with no support is terrible. All I want to do is curl up on the loveseat, close my eyes and make the world go away.Any answers and encouragement will me much appreciated.
I think this is normal but how long it lasts will be unique to each writer. I just finished my third novel (LONG TIME in coming) but the last few months resembled a sprint wrapped up in a marathon. Now that it’s over, I’m at a loss…have no motivation to proceed to my next novel. I feel as though I’m “at sea” and there are no direction markers, no wind, a dead calm. I think it’s natural to need some time to regroup, recommit to the process, and to simply rest.
It is more common with that first book you’ve been waiting to write for decades! I had it (not as badly as yours, though) and I’ll tell you what I did to get over it. I took a course in novel writing. It was the type of course that started you at the beginning of a project and shepherded you along step by step until you were again involved in the new book. I don’t know what your topic was, but mine was an outrage every time I saw a movie, television programme or read a book that had a character knocked out then come to, shake his or her head and jump back on the horse/into the car/start the chase again as if nothing had happened other than a tiny bit of time out. Dangerous nonsense. Brain damage severe enough to cause unconsciousness is serious and many people have long-term consequences. And it perpetuates a myth (like the teenaged motorcyclist who came to in the A&E and wanted to jump back on his motorcycle to get home. (Fact: When he was given a reaction test, his reactions were those of an average 80 year old.) I wrote the book about a head injury and how my protagonist slowly went through rehab etc. to do my bit to redress the misinformation, cloaked in a good mystery.
Oops, hit ‘return’ before I was finished…
The book I wrote during that course was quite different, no brain damage and no flag waving. I wasn’t as driven to write it, of course, and have not again had that driven feeling, but I have written many books since then, enjoying almost all of it!
Good luck, Norah!
Hi,
First, thank you 
Mine is actually a fan fiction piece (Quincy ME) it has romance along with the solving of a case. My heroine was also in a coma due to a hit and run and was kidnapped and needed to be found at the end. I still haven’t figured out where to put the words "The End " yet though, LOL!
So there was a lot of forensic science involved as well as romance. I should have gone into that I loved every minute of all the research.
Couldn’t agree with you more about the research!
Erm…have you considered writing a series? Can your heroine (being very careful after her head injury…) become involved in another case? (i.e. shut down this story and start another!)
I had actually thought of that. Off the top of my head it could either involve something to do with history(she’s an historian) perhaps around the museum she works at, or one of the characters from this one.
I attend a zoom group on Sunday night where I’ve told people about this piece and they suggested a sequel. I said that if I didn’t kill off a certain character there would be one. I didn’t kill her off 
Hi ginger,
Yes that’s it exactly! I want to get on with the sequel to another one that I wrote years ago, but I also don’t want to leave this one. It’s like I’ve actually been living with the characters. I’ve heard them say every word I’ve written. Now I need to switch gears to a different era–1600’s from 1977 and a different country–US to Japan and it won’t materialize in my head.
Well done to get so far Norah, I’m very envious. I am still labouring through my first bit of my first novel. It’s taking me so long to order the beginning that I don’t think I will have the same affection for my characters that you do… I just want to get to the end.
A sequel sounds like a good idea if you are enjoying the subject and the characters. Perhaps a new character that your previous MC knows…
Hi,
I actually have a character in mind. I was either going to kill her off in this one or use her for the sequel. Since I didn’t kill her off 
I could use her in the sequel. My other option is the physiotherapist (did I spell that right? Chemical names I can spell; Japanese words in English I have no problem with, but English that’s a different matter altogether LOL! 
) she got to know at the rehab center where she went after her accident.
That sounds great. Did you tell us the title of the finished book, so we can lookout for it when it hits the shops?
It’s called The Yakuza Ring. I’m not sure I can publish it because it’s Fan fiction but I will have it available in PDF very soon (I’m currently checking it for errors and making sure everything fits together) for free by email until I can research what I can do with it.
I do have two titles up on Amazon called The Samurai’s Lady and Doctor’s Choice.
To be honest I haven’t done much with those because life kind of got in the way, but as far as I know they’re still there. I have PDFs available of those as well.
Thanks, will take a look:slightly_smiling_face:
@Thecelticwriter I think one of the best ways to battle what you are feeling is by focusing on tiny things, concrete morsels. The ending is a big mountain—everything depends on it. So pay no attention to the hulking monster. Later you can poke it in the eyes. Instead, start with one pebble, one word. Let it lead you to a sentence, and another. Focus there, it’s something manageable. Let the snippets pull you back inside the work.
Thanks 
Yes, that’s exactly it!
I spent 12 hours yesterday on research–which I love-- but it’s better to get to the end of it and have something to work with. I think I do now, but my eyes were closing on me so I’ll open the google tabs (I’ve had up to 67 at one time! 
)after I finish this reply and hopefully get some actual writing done today
To the OP,
Yay! Another fanfic writer! On publishing options, you can always post it on various fanfic sites. The two I use are Fanfiction.net (FFN), and Archive of Our Own (AO3). I have the same UN (dtill359) on both sites if you ever want to drop by.
I think feeling like this happens a lot to many people. But I can’t say I’ve ever felt this way when finishing a project. The finish line for me is just a starting point for them (the story cast). Just because I’ve finished telling one story about them doesn’t mean their world/story is over. In fact, it’s often just the opposite. And once I finish that story, I can visit them anytime I want.
Over the years, I’ve come to view stories a bit like I view people. They have something akin to a soul in some ways, and that soul lives on, whether we’re interacting with it or not.
It isn’t over. Perhaps, in some ways, it never will be. 
Thanks Deborah!
I will take a look.
No, it isn’t over–my friend and I were talking a while ago and she said something g like “You can write about anywhere. You could set a story in Wales.” (Where I was born) So, lo and behold if my brain didn’t start coming up with ideas for a sequel to The Yakuza Ring!
I’m working on it