There are so many people on twitter who talk about writing and about writing "their" novel that it can make you think the whole world holds only writers and nothing else. A scary thought, and an intimidating one, if you are striving yourself to find a publisher. But there is a small detail here that I missed out on for a very long time, and it had not even occurred to me that, besides the editing I talked about earlier, there is something else which is quite important to writing, and which many don't seem to achieve.
You have to finish what you started.
That easy, and yet so hard, it seems.
A friend on facebook, when I posted that my novel was finished ( and I MEAN finished; remember, the editing?), told me that her daughter was a writer too, and she had started about thirty projects but never finished anything, and now, after reading my laments, she understood how hard that must be. It is hard. In fact, finishing a novel is the hardest part of it, in my opinion. You have to decide to END your story. And you can't be afraid of that. And you have to find an ending, you have to come all the way around. It feels a bit like bending a tough bough into a hoop. The ends must meet.
One last thing.
I just posted this on twitter: "There are two ways to be a writer. Either you take yourself seriously, or you just aren't."
I *knew* something was not working with my plan. I had better carve out some time to finish that damn thing, I am getting fed up with low-comfort Germania. ^^
ReplyDeleteIndeed, that is the tough part. It's always easy to move on to thenext shiny, new idea and leave the old ideas in the dust. But the magic of the writing, publishing aside, is in finishing. I hate the feeling of always feeling like my writing is at 80%. Congrats on finishing! One day I will join you :-)
ReplyDeleteI agree. In the end it's all about persistence. Never stop. I enjoy reading your blog. I'm basically in the same unpublished boat with you.
ReplyDeleteDon't be intimidated by the fact that so many people on twitter are talking about writing. Remember, we've chosen to follow people with similar interests. That's what makes twitter work for me. But you're so right. The most important and the hardest part of writing is completing the task. Anyone can write a first chapter of a book of the first paragraph of a short story. It's sticking with it that's the hard part. Hopefully that's another job for twitter - encouraging us all to keep on going.
ReplyDeleteThat is really interesting when you say finished. I remember broadcasting to the world that I'd "finished" my novel ages ago, but I hadn't started the editing. After four self-edits I realised I needed a professional and was lucky enough to find one. She has helped me during the past few months and now, I have almost finished. Not until the ms has been gone through once more in the new year will I be able to say officially that it is "finished". I learnt a lesson myself that day!
ReplyDeleteCJ xx
That is SO true. I've skipped on the professional editor so far (because I had the pleasure to be PUSHED a bit by a publisher to hand over the ms., and how sweet that sounds!) , but I may yet get into the editing mill, in fact, I expect it. :)
ReplyDelete