I just finished typing The Secret Gift. While writing, I’m so immersed in the story that I’m rarely a good judge for what is showing up on the page. My myopic view of the story, one scene or one description or one dialogue conversation at a time, means I rarely have an overall view. If I’m rolling with the momentum, then I write until the story is done. I take no days off, as I’m driven to the page to record the tale. Because I’m in the story world every day (when things are going well), often for hours at a time, I can feel if the story is good as is or if there will be some rewrites.
Since SG took nearly nine months to write, there were days and weeks where I didn’t contribute to the word count. That distance (okay, absence) creates holes in the flow of the story. I know this. I know that it interrupts my process to not get to the project every day. But that doesn’t make the battle against the inner critic or the resistance any easier. I know I’ll need to go back and add details. One of the killers isn’t who I thought it would be, so I’ll need to add some clues. As I typed the ending, I knew I would need more. A short epilogue, or a section that starts: Two weeks later... That’s okay. I can do that. I’m giving myself a week to finish the edits, run a grammar and spelling check, then hand it over to a beta reader.
I didn’t want this story to be “Christmas in July.” But that’s how it has turned out. I’ve decided to do a mini-launch. It’s been nearly a year since I published a fiction story (not including the work that’s available on my Patreon page). I’ll do a cover reveal soon. And since I haven’t played with a couple of marketing options, I might do those with this project.
The story turned out a little different than how I thought it would. What I need to tweak about the story isn’t as much as I thought. The momentum garnered will be channeled and directed to the next project. After being out of touch with my process, it wasn’t as easy as I thought it should be to get back in the flow. But once I was, the feelings were familiar. What have you done lately that wasn’t what you thought it would be? Was it for the better or worse? How will that change the next time you do that thing?
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