Writing ACT TWO (Heaven help me.)

I'm taking a quick break from embarrassing myself (don't worry; I'll start up again soon.) to talk about the dreaded ACT TWO. 

MOAN.

I have been putting this off and putting this off, making excuses as to why I've been putting this off, until finally, I did it. I started.

ACT TWO scares the bleep out of me. Any of you writer's feel me on this? It's such a beast, being the largest part of the manuscript, and the part where things must happen. Steadily. Constantly. It's where you must guide your hero along a path that'll ultimately lead him to his breaking point. To a place where he'll reevaluate everything he holds dear. To a moment where he'll suffer. Break. Crumple. Drown. And then finally surrender to new possibilities. New territory. 

Then it's, hello ACT THREE.

But until then, I must make my hero do things. Act. Compete. Feel. Move. Grow. Develop. ACT ONE sets the scene of the story. ACT TWO holds it all together.

I've done this before, written a novel. Done it three times, in fact. And yet, each time I get to this point, I struggle. It's a scary place to be, ACT TWO. It's where (for me) all the doubts come in; the demons begin to taunt: you'll never figure this out. You'll never finish. It's impossible. And yet, if I can push through, push past that nasty concophony of voices, I can get to a really good place.

The ending.

Nothing feels more satisfying then placing that last period on the page of a finished manuscript. So, here I go. Yet again. On the path through ACT TWO. Feeling a bit like Frodo Baggins--heavy with responsibility to finish my journey. Knowing I have no choice but to continue on until it's done. 

 All kinds of good vibes to those of you working on ACT TWO. Talk to me if you're struggling. We'll get through this together.