Nearing the end--of my novel, that is!

The first thing you need to understand about my novel is that it is ten years in the making. Ten. Years. I remember finishing the first draft when I was fifteen. It was late at night--a school night, mind you--the house was still, and I sat at my desk, tears falling in silent joy. It had taken three months to write that draft, which I now realize is a huge feat in itself, even without the young age. But back then, all I felt was the pride of accomplishment and also, undeniably, the sadness of letting my characters go, of completing their story. I had no idea that their story was, quite literally, only beginning.

I put the manuscript away almost immediately. When asked why, I replied, "I need time to distance myself before editing and submitting it for publication." I look back and know that the action was instinctual. And the choice was right.

At nineteen and studying abroad in Melbourne, Australia, I resurrected the manuscript. I looked at it through a new lens, recognizing its earnestness and wishing to put a new, ironic spin on it. I tried. It didn't work; my writing isn't particularly ironic or funny. I'm cool with that. A year later, I went at it again, with a new voice that immediately fit. I wrote seventy pages, feverishly, joyfully. The process of re-seeing the story was intense. While many of the characters remained the same at their core, as did the basic plot, everything else changed, much in the same way I had in the four years since writing that first draft. Then my senior year of college began, and I was forced to (okay, I let myself) drop the project. Again.

And now here I am, a married woman with a business and in the process of attaining my MFA, and the novel never me go. Thanks to my father, who is my accountability partner, my investor, my business parter, and one of my truest, most beautiful believers, I am rounding the last corners of this latest draft. Yes, there will be editing to do when the draft is completed. But this will be the book I'll not just submit, but champion for publication. In the end, the ten years have served it well. I believe in it. I believe it's special and that it could mean something to others. And isn't that the best thing writers can offer?

19.08.2009. 09:00