Saturday, July 10, 2010

Day 102, July 10, 2010

The hardest part of writing any novel is coming up with a good ending, one that's consistent with the logic of the story but still surprising and even more important satisfying. I work very hard to meet those goals. That's why as I'm getting close to the end of a novel I go over and over each scene, doing my best to make sure it's consistent with everything that has come before, that each word is chosen with the greatest of care and with the hope that the reader will like the conclusion so much he or she can't wait for the next thing I write.

Today's first scene plays out the antagonists' main plan: to show how even the most reasonable of people can be manipulated into reverting to humanity's default mode—us versus them—in the most primitive of ways. The second scene shows how even brilliant young people can rejoice in their accomplishments while overlooking any moral questions about what they've done. The third scene shows how the high and mighty can be reminded of basic decency by someone of more humble standing.

I wrote four-plus pages today.

Day 102 of writing my new novel is done.

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