So why the writer's block?? The last chapter is all but written (I know what happens), and yet I can't seem to get from the end of the middle to the very end of the end.

A lot of people are going to say it is because something is wrong with where your story is, where it's going etc...

I can speak only for me, but I think it is about insecurities. I get writer's blocks when everything is working fine because I have a voice telling me I am hopeless, I am not a writer, and to just quit. I get queasy, and I mean physically ill, just looking at my computer.

So I don't. I read, I play video games, I watch movies, I listen to music. The a second personna asserts itself: I am an absolute genius and the world needs to hear what I say.

I ignore them both. I try not to think of writing (yeah, like Dostoyevsky said, try not to think of a blue-eyed polar bear... but i make a commendable attempt.)

I don't wait for inspiration. It only comes when I am not expecting it. What i wait for is for the increasing NECESSITY to write. When it is so great that I have to write or I'll die, I can get over the queasines and get back to work.

Writers get writer's block. But we survive it.

Hang in there, don't ever, ever give up. You are not alone, and I am sure I am not the only one here whose heart goes out to you.

Remember one thing.

Only YOU can write that story. So you HAVE to write it. Simple as that.

You can do it.

While I still think my response may be part of it, I think what you wrote is so much better and that is the first thing to look at.

If the ending is the problem, as ambongan suggests, that may get it out of your system.

If the ending isn't the problem, at least you'll have it written. And then write the next part in between that you know about, and then the next, and so on, until you have a rough draft of the remaining ten chapters.

Or, you could write the ending and just write an outline of sorts for the rest. Then go back and rewrite the outline, elaborating on stuff as you go, sticking in some dialog or some description. Keep doing that until you've got it done.

FWIW, Nancy Kress in Beginning, Middles and Ends claims that "reasons for getting stuck...are fear of failure, fear of success, literary fogginess, and wrong direction." You're close to the end -- can fear be paralyzing your efforts? Have you had anyone read as much as you have? A fresh eye might help.

Why do you think you need about 10 more chapters? Are they really necessary?

If so, what are the actions that need to happen to get you from where you are to where you want to be? Instead of jumping from "S" to "Z", what are the little stops in between? Then connect the dots, it may be easier with smaller jumps.

If not, is there a way to tie your ending to the middle as is? Or, maybe you only need five more chapters instead of 10. Can you get to the end in less time?

Writing is a metamorphesis. It can start out as one thing and by the end it is hardly recognizable. This isn't a bad thing either. Take a break, think about it and don't worry -- I don't know any writer who hasn't been there. You're not alone

[Edited to complete my thoughts on "If so..."]

Write that ending. Get it out of your brain and onto "paper" and out of your system. That alone might help you concentrate more fully on the rest. Do the same with ANY scenes you have churning in your head. I keep a separate file on my computer called MISCELLANEOUS SCENES. I write them out, keep them essentially in the order they will come in the book, they are out of my brain and waiting for me to insert them. I almost ALWAYS have to edit them to fit with what I've written to get to them, but usually not a great deal. Some scenes I simply delete (it turns out they weren't all that important after all).

But what I'm left with is what I think I'm perceiving your problem to be, but on a smaller scale. I call it "Connective Tissue." All the stuff in between the high spots that pretty much just gets you from point A to point B. Sometimes it's nothing more than a paragraph or two. Sometimes it's a chapter or two. But the more you can get on paper, no matter what order you actually write it in, the less connective tissue you have to deal with.

Does it really need 10 chaps? That's a good question and may be part of the problem. It absolutely has to have 3. The rest of the chapters might be construed as filling time from where I am now (and the logistics of what's occuring in the book) and where it has to end up (time plays a critical role).

I'm not sure-- with chaps being no more than "days" to a week apart-- that I can just skip 3 weeks without content.

I don't fear finishing my stories... I just want to start the next one before I actually finish the one I'm working on. Which then puts me into a holding pattern of sorts. Indecision and procrastination, possibly. Discipline is probably what I need to work on to solve it -- and I'm trying to do that. Honest.

I'm lucky that I've never suffered from the common ailment of writer's block. When I'm tired I find it harder to write anything good. So, I don't write when I'm tired. After a long day, that might mean I don't write at all. But, my mind is still thinking of plots and characters and new story ideas.

One thing I do is write a "blog" (or weblog) and dump my thoughts into it to clear my mind in preparation to write something serious. It's completely free association writing, where one thing leads to the next, but I always have a good theme or key phrase going and I stick with it. I always try to wrap up my final words to tie in with the very first words. I find this is perfect [for me] in keeping the conscious and subconscious minds in sync and lubricated.

Finishing anything in life is hard to do. Nothing worthwhile should come too easily. We toil and labor over our stories for good reason: because we must. To do otherwise is to deny the self. And that is not an option.

Of course, a lot of what I write at 2 a.m. IS crap, but often there is the seed of an interesting idea in it that I presumably wouldn't have had otherwise.