You’ve kinda/sorta finished your book/first draft/whachamacallit.

In drastic cases, it could even be an outline that’s gone off the rails and landed in a ditch.

But.

• Your original brilliant idea is drowning in a sea of ugly clutter.

• There are dust bunnies in the corners.

• An overflowing laundry hamper in the hall.

• First chapter is suffering from ring-around-the-collar.

• Inciting incident is ho-hum and forgettable (even by you).

• Plot has more holes than plot.

• Characters have mutated into unrecognizable forms (and you’re not writing sci-fi or alien invasion fiction).

• Verbs are passive, the nouns flabby and adjectives rust in the front yard.

• Ending limps to a conclusion.

You’re asking yourself: Did I write that?

Read the rest from Ruth Harris here.