Charity Heller Hogge and How to Finish a Novel

Charity Heller Hogge runs the editing company, The Mighty Pen. The Mighty Pen specializes in book editing and takes on new projects by contract. She is also the editor for the publishing company, Subatomic, which I have previously mentioned as a publishing company to keep an eye on.

Charity came over to my pad the other night to chill and chat. While also bringing me a yummy bottle of wine, she also brought me stories of her adventures as a single mom in writing and publishing. We discussed what to do with manuscripts that are nearly complete which then lose their way into the impotent wind of an errant muse.

If you are a novelist, you will very much understand the gravity of this problem. What to do? We covered several ideas. Here are some of them:

- Find an obvious plot from a similar genre and figure out how it was solved.
- Read for style, and map an author's sentences for inspiration.
- Reread your entire work, adding to the middle as you go.
- Wait to be depressed, then take advantage of the afterglow (my favorite).

Remember: don't talk about plot until it is impossible that you won't finish. It has to come out somewhere, your mouth is not the best place.