Ode to Elipsis and Exclamation Points

Close—Yet so Far Away

I’m so near the end of the first draft of my latest mystery novel, “A Reticence of Ravens,” I can almost taste the sensation.  Twenty pages or so, just a few more chapters.  Of course it’s only the first draft, but the hardest part.  Rewriting for me is fun.

It’s taking days—weeks actually to get those pages done.  Could it be that I’m procrastinating?  Do writers ever do that?

One part of my brain keeps coming up with problems in my latest tale—with the characters, the plot, the story telling, ad nauseam.  Then there’s all the other little writing tidbits, such as–am I overusing that, was, adverbs, more than my two lifetime allowed exclamation points—and of course, those forbidden ellipsis.  (Should I have italicized just then?  And are these parentheses okay?)

Simultaneously, another, and  more wicked part of my brain keeps interjecting “must do” distractions.  So how am I going to move forward and complete this first draft?  Write an ode of course.

Ode to Ellipsis and Exclamation Points.

Dear me, dear me, my villain isn’t evil enough!

But first, some of my rose buds need dispatching…

And my protagonist isn’t likable enough!

But first, my vegetable crisper is now a macrobiotic laboratory…

I’ve let my “story arc” degenerate!

Don’t you see, I can write my name in the dust on my hutch…

My key supporting character isn’t believable!

Did I walk the dog, did I feed the birds…?

Enough, Enough!

Nothing else matters but finishing my novel.