When I’m writing first drafts, in general, my two favorite parts are the beginning and the end. Usually, I’ve envisioned both of these long before writing, and I’ve been looking forward to them for a long time.

The end is fun because I’ve anticipated it so much, because it’s so satisfying to be done (for now), because it’s the final show down and my chance to have true love conquer all and/or justice to triumph just when it seems impossible. It’s something I’ve imagined and re-imagined, crafting lines of dialogue or action sequences or prose, foreshadowing.

Beginnings are even better. Often I start them before I even intend to, so many ideas and characters and phrases are screaming to get out before I forget them. I’ll have been thinking about a story idea for a week or a month, and all of the sudden, I’m at the computer, just giving it a try. A day or two later, when I’m a chapter or two into it, sometimes I’m so in love with it I send it to a couple friends for an alpha read. (A day after that, I’m ready to tell my husband I’ve started another book—which basically means we’ll see each other again in a couple months 😉 .)

Now, there are of course lots of scenes in the middle that I look forward to, but it’s hard for me to pin down a pattern of which scenes or plot points are most exciting. It’s pretty consistent with beginnings and endings for me. Revising I’m less enthused about, but I do love the purpose and the result—getting better and better!

What do you think? Do you have favorite sections to write? How do you feel about revising?

Photo by The Shopping Sherpa