From: BrendaWriter@yahoo.com   
      
   On 9/6/2014 7:10 PM, Jymesion wrote:   
   > On Wed, 3 Sep 2014 02:08:23 -0700 (PDT), Nicky   
   >   wrote:   
   >   
   >> I mean I guess that is what a will is, but I am puzzled as to why finishing   
   a novel is important?   
   >   
   > I feel that, in and of itself, finishing a particular novel isn't   
   > particularly important (novels die mid-stream for a reason).   
   >   
   > But for a person who never finishes any novel, I believe that being   
   > prodded to finish one might be a healthy experience, just like any   
   > other writing experiment.   
   >   
   > The worst that might happen is they have one finished unpublishable   
   > novel instead of spending that time writing three or four unfinished,   
   > and therefore just as unpublishable, novels.   
      
      
   There is also the point that you cannot grip the complete work until you   
   finish it. Half a novel is like half a song, or half a painting, or half   
   a car. You need the whole thing to see if it hangs together, if it has a   
   theme, if it is built right, if the wheels turn and the engine kicks over.   
      
   Much of the craft of writing is actually rewriting -- crunching the   
   entire work and honing it, squeezing it, making it into what it ought to   
   be. You can't do that until you have the entire work.   
      
   Brenda   
      
   --   
   My latest novel SPEAK TO OUR DESIRES is available exclusively from Book   
   View Cafe.   
   http://www.bookviewcafe.com/index.php/Brenda-Clough/Novels/Speak   
   to-Our-Desires-Chapter-01   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)