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Kirsty Logan

Hello! I’m Kirsty Logan, a writer of novels and short stories. My latest work is the Audible Original The Sound at the End. My other books are Things We Say In The Dark, The Gloaming, The Gracekeepers, A Portable Shelter, and The Rental Heart & Other Fairytales.

Latest News

Kirsty Logan

Hello! I’m Kirsty Logan, a writer of novels and short stories. My latest work is the Audible Original The Sound at the End. My other books are Things We Say In The Dark, The Gloaming, The Gracekeepers, A Portable Shelter, and The Rental Heart & Other Fairytales.

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Damn You, Three-Quarters-of-a-Story!

2nd May 2010 in Writing

When writing a story, I always get stuck at the 75% mark. I’ve already taken the entire world of possibilities and whittled it down to one group of people, one set of locations, one tone and voice. I know how the story starts and how it’s supposed to end. It’s just that I can’t quite get there. The story is far enough done that  all the excitement of mystery and possibility for me as a writer have gone, but not quite far enough that I can sit back and thrill in the joy of completion.

I swear, every single thing I’ve ever written has got stuck at 75%. Sometimes it only takes a few days for me to get past that stumble and finish. Sometimes it takes six months.

I’ve currently got five stories stuck at the 75% mark, and it’s driving me fucking crazy. All I want to do is throw them in the bin and write something shiny and new – which, of course, will also then get stuck at 75%.

Art is hard. I’m going to go and watch Prisoner Cell Block H instead.

6 responses to “Damn You, Three-Quarters-of-a-Story!”

  1. margosita says:

    I struggle with that problem, too! Though it is usually because I don’t know how it will end, though I start to feel/realize that I’m at the point when I am supposed to.

    Art IS hard.

  2. Yep! Exactly! That’s the point where I always want to start something new.

  3. Wendy says:

    I have several stories in a similar predicament. The only thing that seems to help is watching Bones and eating ice cream.

  4. Mark Welker says:

    I feel your pain. The only solution I have found that’s somewhat workable is to skip the 75-95% part, and just work on the ending. That way I feel motivated to finish the last 20% so it can be realised.

    Either that or set 75% of it on fire.

  5. Aimee says:

    Hah! at least you get to 75%! I never get past the first percent, as in, I have a habit of getting a really great idea, research a bit, work on the story for a day, get stuck halfway through the first chapter, and then save it under a file name I will never think about again. :< Blank pages are so intimidating.. I know the beginning and I know how I want it to end, but I always get stuck in the middle 90%, gosh. Well, good luck! 🙂

  6. Kirsty Logan says:

    Aimee, halfway through the first chapter isn’t 0%! And to get to the middle 90% is pretty damn good. Maybe you just need to put it aside for a while? I find that can help.

    Best of luck with all your writing!

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