I have big, big news!

Ready? You sure you’re ready…?

I WROTE A NOVEL!

Okay, so it’s not publicly available, and it’s pretty bad (like, really bad) compared to what I’m writing now, but it’s a start! It’s the first creative writing project I’ve finished… ever.

I winced when I started editing it a few weeks ago – I hadn’t given it much thought since writing it in November – yet I’m still proud of it.  Proud not because of quality (because it’s not very good), but because I finally finished something. I had forced myself to sit down, edit it, and submit it for printing.

My problem with finishing things is that I never feel they’re truly done. I always feel that there’s more to the story, more history to create, more detail to place into the plot and I have a hard time stopping. That’s why I’m constantly writing,  adding to my stories, changing my characters and always working on my 20+ stories.

As much as I love writing, it’s frustrating that even the oldest of projects aren’t getting finished, or even close to being finished, after months of working on them.

Which is why this novel, however bad it is (which is amazingly bad), is a huge accomplishment and another step along the way to finishing my main projects.  I both cheered and cried at the same time when I clicked, “Publish” for the novel.

*Fast Forward a Few Weeks.*

My printed novel greeted me on the porch as we came home from our vacation.  It was, for some reason, the only article of mail that slipped through the mail-hold that we had put in place.  There it was in my hands; I was filled with both dread and anxiety. I finally worked up the courage to open it up to the first page, and quickly shut it again in fear. It is currently resting unread on my bookshelf.

I haven’t read it yet, but I have finished it!