That Eureka! Feeling :)

Four months into writing Berserk! and half way through the first draft of its penultimate chapter, my confidence in finding a satisfying ending to to the book was beginning to wane. The denouements of my tales are seldom on my mind as I start a new writing project. Indeed, the main fun I have in creative writing is that of solving the mystery of how things are going to work out, for the characters and situations in my tale. It is like a jigsaw puzzle where you aren't even aware if you the last few pieces to slot into place but you keep plugging away at the piece in the hope of a happy conclusion.

While I never know the ending to the stories I write when I start work on them, I have grown pretty confident in my ability to locate those out of sight final jigsaw pieces as I progress through the telling of the tale. But, as I have already noted, my belief in my ability to find a rewarding conclusion to this particular novella was, I have to admit, was becoming questionable. 

But last night, during a bout of insomnia that had me wide awake well into the small hours of the morning, my tale of Vikings, death metal and werewolves finally all snapped together in that lovely eureka moment that is one of the most satisfying moments of my writing, equal even to finally holding that final published paperback copy of the completed book in my hands.

So, I am happy to report this evening that I  have that much desired ending for Berserk! It's denouement suprised me greatly, as I hope it will surprise readers of the book when it is finally published, which I now hope will be before the end of this year. To make the denouement believable and satisfying will involve a little extra work in the second draft of writing and involves a slight tweak in the protagonist's thought processes as well as some careful dialogue editing. But it is work that will be satisfying. For the first time since this particular tale came to mind earlier this year, I am happy to report that the end is in sight :)

Completing the penultimate chapter of Beserk!