Killer Characters - The Most Difficult Stage in Writing

The Most Difficult Stage in Writing

When it comes to writing, all authors are different. We thought you might like to know what we each find the most difficult stage in writing.

James M. Jackson - Writing a synopsis takes me for-flipping-ever. I hate every single second of it, and I count them all. The last one took 20,249 seconds.

Connie Berry - The initial draft—just getting words on the page. Once there, the fun begins. I love the quote (attributed to Dorothy Parker?): “I hate writing. I love having written.”

Lori Roberts Herbst - Writing the first draft. I love outlining and coming up with ideas, and editing is probably my favorite stage. But during the first draft, everything seems so big and knotty and senseless as it comes out of my head.

Korina Moss - Because I under-write my first draft, it’s very stilted language with bursts of dialogue—just to get through to the end and make sure the story holds together. The next stage is writing it with the proper prose, and that part is arduous for me. 

Molly MacRae - Possibly convincing myself that I can do it again. Will the feeling of doom and dread that I don’t know how to write ever go away?

Sarah Burr - Writing the first three chapters of a manuscript. If it’s Book One in a new series, you have to introduce the main players, yet keep things moving, and if it’s a subsequent novel in the series, you have to recap without giving too much away or making it boring.

Grace Topping - Getting started on a new project. Without a contract deadline, it gets harder and harder.

Annette Dashofy - The latest part of the muddle in the middle when I’m trying to figure out a smooth transition into the final act. That’s where I am as I answer this question. I might’ve responded differently if I was stuck at a different stage.

Heather Weidner - The editing and revising parts are the hardest for me. I really have to stay focused when I have edits to work on. (I sometimes have to bribe myself with tiny rewards to keep myself motivated. Okay, Heather, you can have ten minutes for an internet break after you finish one more chapter.) 

Margaret S. Hamilton - The first line.

Marilyn Levinson - The sitting down part and getting started each day.

Mary Dutta - Coming up with the plot. I love revising once that's done.

Susan Van Kirk - I’m afraid I’ll have to be boring and say it is the oft-cited muddle in the middle. I know how my mystery will start and end. What happens in between is often a total mystery to me.

Debra H. Goldstein – Coming up with the idea that I think is worth writing about.

Martha Reed - The middle muddle when I need to decide which story arcs need to be highlighted and how best to weave them together to keep the reader engaged. 

Lisa Malice - As a pantser, the hardest stage on the novel-writing process is that first draft, especially the opening scene. It needs to really grab the reader, so that first chapter gets rewritten quite a bit.

Kait Carson - All of it. Oh, sorry. The beginning. As a plotster I struggle with too much backstory while I tell myself the set-up. It all comes out in the end.

Nancy Eady - The first draft.  Once I have something down on paper, I can edit because I have something to work with.  But getting something down that first time is hard. 

Shari Randall - Writing the first scene. I adore rewrites and edits, but figuring out where to begin a story is the challenge.

K.M. Rockwood - Getting the first draft down completely before I give in to the urge to go “fix” things. I do make notes for myself, but if I went back & edited everything, I’d be like Ignatius J. Reilly, who spends years working on the first sentence of his manuscript.

E.B. Davis - Where to start. I often write the end before the beginning.