I Feel Fine
August 27, 2001
7:17 a.m.
The book is done through second draft. If we're counting, that was essentially a three-month draft. Lisa is in the process of copyediting it, and I figure that will be done in a week or two. So, what does a person do at this point? Usually after a finishing a pass through the jungle of a novel, I find myself a bit strung out, nervous, perhaps even a bit trepidatious about moving on. Stories this big linger. Actually, that's one of the things I like about writing novels. I like being deep enough into what I'm doing that I feel loss at their completion. This time is different, though. Oh, I'll admit that I was still thinking about the work yesterday when I cut the grass. And I still feel the characters, and all that. I'm not saying that the sensation is gone. But it's different. First, I know I've still got a little work to do in reviewing and absorbing the copyedit. So, in a sense, I'm not really done. This hasn't stopped me from feeling this way before, though...I felt a sense of distracted loss after each of my Dares. I think the difference is that I know I'm doing my absolute best at this stage. Note: I'm not saying the book is good, bad, or indifferent. Note: I'm also not saying that I didn't do my best with any other book I've written. But knowing you're doing what you set out to do is different that thinking you have. And that's the feeling I've got right now. I've done what I set out to do--in my mind, if in no one else's. And that, I think is the difference in how I'm feeling right now. So yesterday, I worked out a plan for submitting the short fiction that's been languishing on the hard drive while I finished this project. And I pulled out the outline of an earlier novel that I will now begin to market again. (Why this book has been on the shelf for so long is a very long story. If my grand plan actually works out, I'll write an essay about it, and release it here...otherwise, you really didn't need to know, anyway). Things are moving. And I feel fine.  Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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