A couple of years ago I finished NaNoWriMo successfully. I had written 50,000+ words. I felt marvelous. I felt victorious. I felt like I was finished with a major first step.
However, when I honestly examined it--after the euphoria had worn off-- and after five beta readers had gotten it and suffered through it I realized that it was a steaming pile of poop.
I started from scratch... from zero... from the very beginning--again.
Over the weekend, I saw an author on a book talk show. They quoted Maya Angelou as saying, "We find our way by walking." And it hit me.
I am walking my way--slowly--as I find my way through this WIP. I've gotten 46,000-something words down (or is it 47 now?) and every couple of hundred words that get put down on paper is a few more steps along the way.
And also, like all people, I have a path of family "issues" that I'm picking my way along. The trail is rocky, sometimes hilly, and occasionally the road has been washed away and I have to navigate without any markings...
... but I'm still walking.
How else do we find our way--besides walking?
* And I'm thrilled. Two of my friends--one teaching colleague and one writing friend (Lynn Obermoeller) have made it to the audition phase for St. Louis' Listen to Your Mother show. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed. (Both of their stories are great. One is funny and one is poignant.)
Can't wait to read your WIP. I am rooting for Lynn and fellow St. Louis writers. What a life experience LTYM was for me.
ReplyDeleteLinda--It was because of you and Kim that I submitted a second time. (And since you suffered through the earlier draft, of course, WHEN (not if) I finish it, you'll get to read it.
DeleteThat's exactly the way we all get where we want to go...one step at a time.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to pop over to congratulate Lynn. You probably already know Becky Povich made it, too. Hope everyone has an outstanding reading!
Pat
Critter Alley
Pat--I hope the same thing.
DeleteBaby steps. Eventually you'll be running like Usain Bolt.
ReplyDeleteVal--I wouldn't go that far...
DeleteCongrats on your 46...or 47. One step at a time. I admire your strength and tenacity. Good luck to all of the LTYM auditioners!
ReplyDeleteNoExcuses--Thanks, thanks and thanks.
DeleteLove the analogy you draw. Walking, sometimes running, often falling, crawling, walking some more. As long as we're engaged in forward motion---that's the thing. It's standing still that will hurt us. Your WIP is taking you places, you know. You may think you're carrying it along with you, tucked under your arm, but it's the other way around. You're walking through it, yes . . . but at the end of it, you'll find that you've been carried farther by your work than you ever thought you could go, learned more than you realized during all those hours of walking. I have multiple completed manuscripts sitting under my bed (some literally) that will never see the light of day, even after all that walking. But it's okay---they carried me farther than I knew at the time, taught me important lessons, the most important of which is: Never stop walking. :)
ReplyDeleteLisa--You sooo right. Writing also heals us, as we work out things via our writing,
DeleteSo, do you have so many manuscripts under your bed that you don't need legs on your bed? ;)
One step at a time...the occasional backtrack, the once-in-a-blue-moon leap, but never stopping.
ReplyDeleteYou go, girl! :-)
What a great analogy. If all of life is a journey, our stories are the the highlights along the way.
ReplyDelete