It is finished.
The first draft of “Athena’s Promise” is finally finished and in the hands of the beta readers.
Wooohooo!
I truly have mixed feelings about this. Oh, I’ve finished lots of projects, but this is my first finished novel. After I wrote the last sentence and affixed “The End”, I sat here for a minute in complete shock.
Not this kind of shock. Although it is similar.
Then, I was overcome with absolute joy.
This is Zach Carter. He looks like how I feel and he's much cuter.
After that, another emotion took control.
Photo credit: kakisky from morguefile.com
I started to feel like maybe I needed a dose of horse tranquilizer to even out this emotional roller coaster. And why was I crying, for heaven’s sake? I mean, I finished it! It was done! I should be happy and jumping for joy, right?
Well, maybe that’s how normal people are wired, but I’m a writer, remember? I know I laughed and cried through the whole thing. Traveling around with Pallas sure isn’t for sissies. There were parts which were a total joy to write and I’d sit here in front of the computer giggling like a lunatic, and others which were so difficult, and I’d cry a river for not only what I was putting her through but for the emotional toll it took on me.
I wrote the bulk of “Athena’s Promise” in about eight weeks. I’d say 75% — maybe 80%. Then, I was stricken with emergency surgery and I was derailed for a couple of months which turned into almost two years. I had a very difficult time with the ending — not because I didn’t know what happened…I did. For a long time I didn’t know WHAT my problem was, or why every time I took AP out with the intention of finishing it I bailed every time.
It wasn’t until a recent conversation with a fellow writer and very dear friend that I found the strength? Courage? to sit down and actually finish the thing. In the course of the conversation (well, there was actually more than one) there were two things he said that really resonated for me.
1. When I figured out exactly what the internal issue was, the ending would practically write itself.
So, I really thought hard about that. What was stopping me? OH!
What if I finish and it sucks? There goes all my street cred down the drain.
When I finish it, it’s the end of the relationship with Pallas. And I really love her. (Even though I have two other books planned with her. So this is bullshit.)
What if I finish it and it sucks?
Then my friend says to me…
2. “Get over yourself.”
Bingo. Go big or go home. Either I have the balls or I don’t.
Well, guess what? I HAZ BALLZ.
This is a brass ball. Mine are not so ornate, and I have two.
That’s all it took. In three days the ending was written and the first draft of “Athena’s Promise” was completed.
There now. That wasn’t so difficult. All I had to keep in mind is to get over myself, and that every new beginning is simply some other beginning’s end.
So off Pallas goes, first to the beta readers, then to revisions and editing, then cover art, formatting and on to tell her story to the wide world. I know she doesn’t suck. And now I know I can pull the trigger. Next up will be writing Athena’s Chains, and I’m looking forward to that.
I really like her, and I think others will like her, too. I can’t wait to introduce her to you all. Stay tuned for teasers and a release date… until then, please pardon me for a little bit.
I have to polish my brass balls. Heh.
So awesome, Netta! And I love Pallas–LOVE her–can’t wait to see what you torture her with next…
The rollercoaster writing ride is strictly for us, I think. Readers go through a different experience–just as authentic (so much so sometimes it’s like they think the characters are friends) but for us, they are FAMILY. And we hate to let them go, even for a moment.
You ROCK. I am so proud. XOXOXOX
Patti Larsen recently posted..I Saw the Sign or My Big Decision
It has really been an interesting experience. Pallas is definitely like family, but like children, we have to let them go to fly on their own. And she has other adventures awaiting.
Thanks, chicklet. xoxoxo
It’s also very difficult for some writers to get over the, “book as event,” mentality. They see this one project as their baby, the “book they were meant to write.” It’s what keeps them sitting on their hands and checking their email every two minutes to see if they’ve gotten a response to their query or makes them keep writing and rewriting and rewriting until any semblance of voice is drained from the prose.
It’s just a story. Of course we’re close to it and it means something to us. If it didn’t, it wouldn’t be worth writing. Thing is though, if we have any intention of being a professional writer and not a hobbyist, there will be dozens if not hundreds of books in our future. So write, say goodbye, and move on to the next. And then our success isn’t about selling, it’s about finishing. It isn’t about the money, it’s about the stories yet to be told. And you can’t discover your next true love while morning for the one passed away.
Congrats, lady. Great job. You’ve now done what ninety percent of the people on the planet who say they want to be writers never do: You finished a novel.
Ain’t that a hoot?
I always knew there could be more than one book — but I know what you mean about “the book”. I didn’t know if I had more than one in me, because writing (and finishing!) that first one is a big hurdle. I think once you get over that, the other stories just kind of line up waving their arms and screaming, “Me next! MEMEMEMEMEME!!”
At least, that’s what I’m feeling right now. I have at least four in that line, and I know that’s just going to spawn more. This makes me very, VERY happy.
Oh, it’s a hoot all right. It really, really is. *grinning*