The Perils of Overconfidence: A Writer’s Journey to Finish ‘Reunion: Coda’

Midday/Early Afternoon, Thursday, January 9, 2025, Miami, Florida

The first chapter sells the book. The last chapter sells the next book. – Mickey Spillane

Although I’m not writing the last chapter or the final 50 pages of Reunion: Coda, I’m definitely on the “home stretch” or the book’s climax. After nearly two years of working on this “first novel” project, it feels like I’m finally bringing to life the story I started back in 1998 with, “It’s quiet here. But then again, it’s supposed to be quiet…” That was on an old version of Microsoft Word, using a computer that’s long been obsolete. The anticipation is so real as this journey nears its thrilling finish.

I’m feeling a bit all over the place right now. I’ve never written a novel before; the closest I got was finishing Reunion: A Story – the novella that’s the first half of the Reunion Duology and sets up Reunion: Coda – almost 27 years ago. I know how important endings are, so this part of the process is definitely challenging.

Yesterday, I started Chapter 23 by sketching an outline. Feeling good about the story, I expanded it, aiming to mix in some cool worldbuilding, a solid narrative, realistic dialogue, and a smooth story flow.

At first, I thought I nailed all the key points of the story. The scene felt pretty solid, and I was checking off my list like a pro. But then, after I dropped it into the master file for the manuscript, I took another look—and wow, it definitely needed more love.

The issue wasn’t the quality or tone of the scene. I ran Word’s spell check a few times during the writing process and right after finishing the first draft. I even did my own copy edits a couple of times until I was confident it was grammatically sound. Then, I called in Copilot AI to take a look and suggest improvements. As usual, Copilot did its thing and pointed out some necessary tweaks, but overall, Scene One seemed pretty solid as I had written it.

What I didn’t do, though, was my usual routine before diving back into writing after a long break: reading the manuscript to remember what had happened in the story so far. Not necessarily from the beginning, but far enough back to make sure the new material didn’t contradict the “established facts” of the novel.

Turns out, I got my “facts” wrong. And now, I have to rewrite the scene because my overconfidence led me astray. I nearly botched the most crucial part of the novel. It’s a humbling reminder that even after nearly two years on this project, I need to stay vigilant and double-check everything. So, it’s back to the drawing board, making sure this time I get it right and give this story the worthy climax it deserves.