The ugly lights is what my friends and I call the house lights that are turned on at the end of the night when the party is over and it’s time to get going. A ‘good night’ is when you stay as long as you can but leave before the ugly lights come on; it’s all in the timing.
I’m not confident that I can apply the same sort of timing to my writing, I think that perhaps the ugly lights have already come on and that I need to just step away from the keyboard. BUT! It doesn’t feel done to me. I’m tinkering and tweaking and walking away to give some space then returning with a sigh and a head scratch at the state of the final chapter.
A friend gave me a writing book that details the process; I skipped to the end hoping for some insight about my final chapter only to be met with an overview of the incongruousness of fiction and reality. The author talked about suspension of disbelief versus reality, and how life doesn’t have tidy endings so it can be challenging for a writer to end their story.
It was a good point and I take it.
Within the game plan that I’ve made for myself the state of this chapter is the most incomplete that I have left any chapter to date, but I am going to suck it up and move on. I promised myself at least 3 drafts so reluctantly I will move forward. In starting over from the beginning again with fresh eyes I hope to find the right ending.