Writing the Chapter That Doesn’t Want to Be Written

I’ve known for some time that Calyn’s story came to an end rather abruptly.  More than one critique group has told me so.  But I was defeated every time that I tried to come up with one more chapter.  Every possible scene seemed to be wrapped in cotton candy while the cutesiest unicorns and bunny rabbits danced around it.  Really.  But I did take my friends’ complaints quite seriously, especially since there were some readers who felt that SUSPECT ended too quickly.  I noticed that there were still a few plot issues that could be resolved.  I expanded the last chapter by about two pages and then sent things off to my agent.

But no.  She confirmed that the ending was still too abrupt. So I didn’t have a choice.  I had to write it.  I tried a lot of angles of attack and finally found a way in.  Most of the failed attempts did provide a line or two that made it into the end as I encouraged my characters to talk to each other. So it’s another case of “Bone-headed stubbornness pays.” Jane Yolen’s classic advice for how to pursue a career also works for writing the chapters and scenes that don’t want to be written.  The chapter still needs tweaks, but it’s a matter of smoothing and polishing.