There is a certain sense of exhilaration that comes from correcting the last mistake, dotting the final period, or changing "just a little bit of...." and shoving the piece out the (virtual) door. Doing so rings a note of finality that, despite all odds, setbacks, trials, and tribulations you have finally completed the Herculean task of writing the complete, perfect story. The stable is now clean. It is a wonderful time.
Regardless of whether it is a short story or a bloated novel the accomplishment is something to be celebrated. Now, you swear, you can get onto something else and, by damn, you WILL NOT make the same stupid mistakes that made you do all those rewrites, edits, and changes as you did on the just completed manuscript. Bravely you go forward, writing like a fiend, piling up pages of creative narrative that will not doubt achieve Nebula status and.....
Oh crap! I discover that you've written myself into a corner, but maybe if you make a tiny change back there on paragraph three... But that means have to rewrite pages 5-10 and probably change the focus or....Why did I start THERE? No, no, the story actually starts on page six, which means you need to throw out the first five pages and.. Gott in Himmel, that changes the entire story arc, but no problem..
And so it goes, one manuscript after another. You suddenly feel that you may never learn from your mastakes. You are doomed to haunt the halls of futility heavily bearing the chain of inadequacy on your shoulders while ever searching for the perfect word, the perfect sentence, and the cogent paragraph and correcting spelling, punctuation, and grammar along the way. But maybe this time, on the tenth edit this one might eventually be finished.
Or abandoned.
#SFWApro
Regardless of whether it is a short story or a bloated novel the accomplishment is something to be celebrated. Now, you swear, you can get onto something else and, by damn, you WILL NOT make the same stupid mistakes that made you do all those rewrites, edits, and changes as you did on the just completed manuscript. Bravely you go forward, writing like a fiend, piling up pages of creative narrative that will not doubt achieve Nebula status and.....
Oh crap! I discover that you've written myself into a corner, but maybe if you make a tiny change back there on paragraph three... But that means have to rewrite pages 5-10 and probably change the focus or....Why did I start THERE? No, no, the story actually starts on page six, which means you need to throw out the first five pages and.. Gott in Himmel, that changes the entire story arc, but no problem..
And so it goes, one manuscript after another. You suddenly feel that you may never learn from your mastakes. You are doomed to haunt the halls of futility heavily bearing the chain of inadequacy on your shoulders while ever searching for the perfect word, the perfect sentence, and the cogent paragraph and correcting spelling, punctuation, and grammar along the way. But maybe this time, on the tenth edit this one might eventually be finished.
Or abandoned.
#SFWApro
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