Into and Through

The first draft of the other project is finished, and I finally feel like I can get back to the novel!

There will be more work on this other thing, of course. I want to let it sit for a week or so, print it, and read it all the way through in one sitting, marking it up as I go. Then I will make those edits and I will have a second draft, at which point I will share it with a few trusted people. I will incorporate their feedback (or not) and then I will have a third draft. But the point is, this thing has moved from the drafting stage to the revision stage, which means I only have one big project in the drafting stage now: the novel.

I am slightly intimidated. The novel is big and rambling and there are parts of the current draft that are clearly not working. But the only way is into and through.

At this point, I am no longer dealing in word count goals. (Remember when I thought I would finish a draft by June? Ha.) Rather, my plan is to create a detailed outline based on the plot. I’ve had all these ideas over the last couple of months and I’ve been capturing them in Bear, so now I can work those in or abandon them. After that, I will go back to my 50,000 words and see what’s there and what’s still missing. Then, I will try to fill in the holes.

I have this sense that I cannot rush this project. I don’t feel like I’m making it up; I feel like I’m receiving it and shaping it. My main job is to work on being the person I need to be to write this story. To be open to whatever comes, to invite in the energy multipliers and banish the energy diminishers. Most importantly, to show up.

Listen, I hope you’re okay. Times are not easy and so be good to yourself. ♥️