Writing Spaces

First day of the final draft.

In 2020, genius-me finished the first draft of my current novel-in-progress, in only six months. Finished! Why do people moan about how hard writing is?

Knowing how to read words, and having written a few poems and stories, I surely knew how to write a novel. As my twelve-year-old character Charlie, who plans to have a Pulitzer for journalism by age twenty, says: eight years for a Pulitzer is plenty of time. Writing’s easy.

Five years, a dozen critiques, and twelve drafts of my novel later, I know exactly why we moan. Writing’s hard! The book will never be exactly what I’d dreamed, but finally, it’s almost as good as I can get it. Two years behind plan, I’m almost done my last batch of revisions before querying (which is the process of sending the manuscript to agents in hopes of finding one who believes they can sell this book to a publisher).

Putting words on the page may be easy. Creating a compelling story with engaging characters, dialogue that moves, and a plot that makes readers turn pages: that’s hard. That’s a craft, learned and honed, and in my case, I’d have managed it quicker if I’d learned to dog paddle before jumping in the deep end, shouting “Watch me!” There’s a fair bit of Charlie, a girl who loves launching from the rope swing far into the creek, in the way I plunged ahead.

But on-the-job’s not the worst way to learn. Not the most efficient, for sure, when I’m gasping my way to the surface through a weedy draft. But I’ve made it. I’m floating now, blue sky and white cumulus above me, the kind sun warming my skin. I’ve learned ferociously. I’ve told a story I care about, that’s meaningful to me, and that I trust will be meaningful to others. And I’m learning not to wait for it to be perfect. It never will be. It will be good.

So here we are. 2025, Day One, Draft Twelve. Stick around if you’d like to become an advance-reader of this book when the time comes. Meantime, whatever you’re learning, whether this is your first day or you’ve nearly finished, I wish you every success.

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