As well as stamina, fiction writers need good organisational skills in order to be able to stay the course. As you are pounding through what can sometimes seem like the interminable stretches of the middle part of your story, you may find that you write yourself up one or two blind alleys which lead nowhere, or have a brilliant idea which doesn't quite fit the section you are working on, so that you're not certain what to do with it. I usually have a whole file where I deposit written passages that I can't quite place, but don't want to jettison altogether. The shed-building equivalent looks a little bit like this...
The Steves know they are going to need a door somewhere down the line, though not just yet, but there it is, not cluttering up the inside, but on hand ready when needed.
If you are editing as crisply as you should, you may find that your Out Takes file is soon bulging, and junking huge chunks of your work can be demoralising, but
nothing is ever wasted. Even if you cannot recycle material in another chapter, or another story, you will have learned something from creating it in the first place. Try not to be sentimental or over-protective about your writing, even if you have sweated blood to produce it - remember that what you are after is quality not quantity and sacrificing a few pages as you go will be worth it in the end.
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