Almost the end

Yesterday, I wrote the last sentence of my current MS. Well, kind of. I finished the first draft (very rough). Yay!!

Okay, but now I have to add the scenes that I know are missing, fill in plot holes, plant seeds of emotion and conflict back in earlier chapters, and begin The Big Revision.

My plan is to work through Donald Maass' popular Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook in an effort to flesh out the story, the characters, the emotion, the conflict…well, you get the idea.

My biggest personal conflict is that I've decided which story I'm going to start next (not Diego's story after all, for those who've been following along), and my brain won't stop thinking of scenes and names, and dialogue.

I understand why some writers never finish a book. It's so much more fun to start them. In the beginning there are no constraints on the story, the characters aren't hampered by their past actions and backgrounds yet.

It's a wonderful feeling, but frustrating at a time when I have much more work to do on my current MS. So, I keep plugging away, with my notebook at my side to capture ideas for the next book, and hope my brain's still feeling creative when I'm finally ready to move on.

How do you handle it when your brain wants to jump ahead?