All marathons have a finish line.
/Today is a marathon work day! Can you feel it? That urge to get into a groove and catch up a big project. Keep the caffeine coming! All hands on deck, all systems go, everything marching forward!
Because I totally am doing that.
Except for falling asleep on top of my work, and then distracting myself with the Internet, and maybe also staring at the ceiling a lot.
But otherwise. Otherwise, I'm telling you, I'm totally rocking it.
Okay, in all seriousness, it's a good day for writing. It's raining here, and for the most part, the words are coming steadily. I am having a marathon revision session, and today's quote is my happy cheerleader: pointing me toward the goal of all this good work, all the clarifying, the search for better words.
I'm building toward (or muddling toward) the draft that works. The final one.
The one that takes the best of my original vision, and all the best of everything since then.
The one with the sharpest conflict, the highest stakes, the brightest characterization, the most memorable settings. And hopefully, all the right words.
Barbara Abercrombie's quote comes from her book A Year of Writing Dangerously, which I highly recommend for any type of writer. It's packed with clever advice, much-needed encouragement, and (you know I love 'em) quotes from other writers.
Best of all, it reminds me that I'm normal. That all the weird little tics of my writing brain are so similar to the other writing brains out there.
It makes me think of all the other writers today, turning phrases one way and then another, refining one draft and turning it into the next and then the next. Some of us maybe napping in the midst of it.
All that scribbling, typing, clattering, mumbling out loud, staring into space, reaching for a better word.
It's a good crowd.
And I think they're telling me, it's time to get back to that manuscript.
What we need to do is think of all our failed drafts as simply steps toward the final one, the one that works. -- Barbara Abercrombie
