Justwrite

I'm not sure what holds me back. I know I only have a few months before I have to reenter the real world and get a salary paying gig. I have been retired from my job of thirty years for almost four months. Although I have read quite a bit and have studied various workshops and writing manuals, I am still pissing around when it comes to submitting my work. I am on the 3rd rewrite of my fictional novel and will submit for editing when it's finished. The freelance market calls my name but I'm so damn scattered right now that I'm not sure where to start. The most important piece is to just keep writing, keep reading and keep improving. It's all a bit of a crapshoot.

Took the plunge

I finally sent a short story to a contest in New York. It was easier than I imagined writing a beginning, middle and end in 5000 words or less. The story was solid and the characters were three dimensional. The best part of the whole thing, I didn't throw up when I went to the post office and released the manila envelope into the hands of the clerk. Do I think I'll win the contest? Probably not but the real payoff for me was the fact that I let it go...

Another day.

It's been another day of rewriting my manuscript. Another day closer to the moment when I finally let it go. I've prepared my story twice to go out into the real world only to pull it back just before the postage was stamped. I am truly my own worst critic and will suffocate the life out of the very characters I've created if I don't get a grip. It's a bit like letting your baby go off to kindergarten. It's the natural progression, give birth and then let them go. If you've done your job right they will prosper. Yeah they may fall down once in awhile and get beat up by a bully but they will grow, they will learn and one day they will go into their own. I need to take my manuscript to kindergarten and hope the critics take mercy. Maybe a black eye or a few bruises but nothing to damaging.