I'm too tired to finish this sen . . .

The image in this post is a portion of what came up when I searched "tired author". I did so because, at the time, I was one and likely will be again in a few hours.

I'm about 11,000 words into the sequel for The Unlived Lives of Raymond Quinn. Eleven thousand hard fought, hard to come by, pre countless edits words of what will ultimately be fifty to sixty thousand total when done. Each day I try to write around two to three thousand more that are even remotely acceptable before I begin the rewrites. The process usually goes like this. 

I get up at 5 AM, work out for an hour, shave, shower, dress, and have breakfast. At that point, I feel good to great (it varies when you're 76.) Then it's back to the computer for six to eight hours of writing, which begins by rereading half to all of the last chapter written the day before. (That varies as well depending on how much or little of it I find acceptable the next day.)

Somewhere around hour five or six, I begin to feel fatigue. How can that be, you ask? "This isn't roofing or brick laying! You're only typing." I wondered about that too, and have a theory, one backed up by many.

There is much to keep track of writing fiction. Details about the characters, their interactions with each other, the story lines I intend for them, etc. None of that is settled in the beginning. I've created a decision tree I use as a guide or outline for the story, but often need to change things as I progress. And that's where the fatigue comes from.

If you write fiction, you have two paths you can take. One, create your story outline, stick to it, write, and finish it. No second guessing, no variations. Or two, do as I do and start with a plan, accepting that you will willingly modify any to all of it as you go. When you do you must also rethink everything to that point, some to much of which will require update as a result.

I don't know how good your story will be if you follow the first option, but I do know you will be much less tired, finishing much sooner than you will if you follow the second option.