Friday, April 20, 2018

The End of Anything is a Danger Zone





[Photo by Brooke Lark at Unsplash]


I've heard that one of the most dangerous stages of any road trip is when you are returning home and are close to your house. You may be tired and thus let down your guard. Perhaps you are less attentive because you have - at least in your mind - already returned.

A similar danger faces novelists. Consider how often you have been impressed by a novel until you near the ending. One wonders if fatigue and the desire to finish the damned thing cause many writers to cut corners. They just get sloppy. Either way, the danger zone for any novel is in the last chapter or two.

You can find similar dangers with meetings, conversations, dates and other areas. Parting is not sweet sorrow. Often it is simply sorrow. 

May your internal alarm bell ring whenever you near the end of anything. That is where the goblins lurk. 

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