I Finished It!

Abigail and Dolley readers some of you may recall, that back in March I declared I was writing a novel.  I have over the years put pen to paper and begun three other novels.  The first when I was about 16 years old, another when I was in college, and a third about three years ago.  All of them were victims of either limited life experience, convoluted and way too involved story lines, or just plain full of so many holes and mistakes they were abandoned.  This one, though, dear friends was different.

This book flowed out of me like breath.  I did not spend a ton of time scripting the story, the story just told itself.  Some of the chapters have only been read by me once and I did not obsess on editing what I had already written, I just kept going.  From March through April I wrote feverishly; the story coming to me on my drive to work every morning and when I sat down that night, I already knew what I was going to write.

Alas, life gets in the way and I sent an electronic copy to a friend.  A friend I knew loved to read the genre I was writing and one who I felt would give me good and honest feedback.  Then my work life spun out of my control and the book sat unfinished and untouched for months.  My friend was quiet and I began to fear that it was so horrible, she could not even bring herself to critique it.

Then, as life goes, I was blessed with a visit from her and she sheepishly admitted that she'd only begun to read the book a few days before and it was GOOD.  I was so relieved, because unlike my other attempts she is the only one who has read a word of it.  Even my beloved husband, George, had not read a line.  Suddenly, the story started popping in my head again.  The characters wanted to have their story finished.

Life has calmed down much in the last few months and I finished the book tonight.  As I lay here, with my laptop humming away, I can not believe I actually finished it.  Of course, that is simply the first part of the writing process and because much of the story was written in a whirlwind, it will have to be edited and anomalies corrected.  I suppose if a book is a body, then I have finished assembling the skeleton.  That is the frame though and truly the hardest part.  I have to go back and give it tendons, ligaments, muscles, and skin but the story is complete and I am overjoyed.