A slightly early momentum update on one of my two February resolutions:
I saw one of my cousins this past week. He also happens to be a writer. He asked about the progress of my newest manuscript, recalling that I’d said I was setting a goal to finish the first draft by the end of February. But he asked the question from an informed point of view: “So that was just a pipe dream, wasn’t it?”
Yes. Yes it was.
At the beginning of the month I’d ambitiously thought, “I did the first 50,000 words and even more in a month, so I’m sure if I just buckle down I can get the rest of it done in that same amount of time!” But February isn’t November, and without the whole novel writing month gauntlet in front of me, there’s no deadline to race against. February was about half over when I realized I’d never reach the goal, and after accepting the mild disappointment that came with admitting that I thought back to what my original goal for this manuscript had been back in November: just to get a good head start on it. Which I did. Writing 50,000+ words in thirty days is no ride around the lake, after all.
During November I’d get caught up in the occasional endorphin rush when something went well, and I’d start believing I was closer to finishing than I really was. But new characters would show up as I pushed through. New levels of complexity and different subplots introduced themselves. When that month-long sprint was over and I took a break from working on it, I remembered that this idea was something I’d wanted to try for a long time, and I’d have to bring my A game if there was a chance I could reach the level I wanted achieve. As much work as it is, it’s very gratifying to watch a manuscript come together the way you want it to. The process of sitting down and writing it is the best part for me, so why deprive myself of that by adding the pressure of a manufactured deadline?
When I send in a book order for my class, eventually the students will ask, “When are the books going to get here?” My answer is always the same: “When they get here.” That’s going to be my deadline for finishing this first draft now: It will be done when it’s done. So if you were following my word count updates and observations this past November with any degree of curiosity to see what the finished product would be like? Well, don’t hold your breath.
However, there are four or five other manuscripts I’ve written that are floating around in the world, or sitting on the shelf beside my desk, or sitting in PDF form on my external hard drive, all waiting for their turn to come back up in the queue and get the final coat (or coats) of polish they need before they’re submission-worthy. And a couple of them don’t even suck. It’s almost all middle grade or young adult fiction: Haunted lakes... depressed middle schoolers... pre-teen revolutionaries... creativity pushed to the brink of insanity... even a darkly spiritual and fairly revealing memoir that would give readers more insights about me than most could stand. So I’ll just throw it out there that if anyone is ever curious to see any of the writing that gets referred to so frequently here on Summer Vacation, all you have to do is ask. But as for the current one I’m picking away at? It will be done when it’s done. And I'm just going to keep soaking up the experience of it while I can.
