The Madness Is Over

Well, I did it. The first draft, a very VERY rough draft of Street Walk is officially completed. There are scenes missing, scenes that need to be cut, subplots that need to be elaborated, but nevertheless, I have typed "The End". For the next few weeks, the novel will be marinating in my laptop and I will be catching up on much needed sleep, reading and movie watching.

The whole process was wonderful. It really showed me what I am capable of as a writer. Writing 3,000 words a day, sometimes in one sitting, seemed impossible, but now I know I can do it. And hey, if I can do it, anyone can.

So many times, I have heard writers, or any artist for that matter, say that they have to wait for inspiration, that the mood has to strike them or else the words seem forced. Well, when you have a deadline, you don't have that kind of time. You have to turn in a product, a good product, whether you were inspired to or not. In my stage of the game, I don't have an editor or publisher telling me when my next manuscript is due. I have to create my own deadlines, or in this case, NaNoWriMo did it for me.

I once asked my uncle about writer's block, asking if he ever got stuck in the middle of a manuscript. He gave me the answer that I later heard him give at an interview. He said that writing is a job. Does a truck driver get stuck? No, he just keeps going. I've always considered that a good motto to live by. If you are serious about your writing, you do it every day, treating it like every other job. And if you keep writing, whether it's a page a day or 5,000 words, eventually you will finish. You will able to sit back at your computer, pop open a beer and type "The End".

Today was my day to pop the beer and type the two words. And even though I know that there is much work that needs to be done to get it to that final draft, the act of completion, of telling a full movement in over three-hundred pages, feels damn good.