1.31.2007

The end is near

I am almost done with the novel I've been working on. The first draft took just a few months, which I was happy about because I've discovered that it's best to write something quickly instead of agonizing over stuff that will inevitably be revised again and again. I felt like I was being disciplined and responsible by getting that first draft out. But the problem was that I felt like it was fake, that it wasn't from the heart, so I put it aside and pursued other creative stuff. Then I observed some interactions between people and found out about some other people's experiences, and ended up wondering "what if...", which I incorporated into the story. So I got rid of the first draft and totally started over. It took a lot longer to do the second draft because I was involved in exciting work that sort of subdued my desire to write. But the desire came back strong, so I started working on the book again.

Now I really don't have a lot more to do--I see the end of the tunnel, which is driving me even more to finish it. I even have put off other stuff to do it, which isn't so responsible, but is still a breakthrough because this book might never get published, and that's not stopping me.

I actually don't feel the despair we unpublished writers usually feel but excitement that I've written something I'm pretty happy with that is going to be completed. Hopefully I'll remember that when I get the rejections.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're not an "unpublished" writer; you're "emerging", remember?

-- Some Corporate type from a Major Airline

Anonymous said...

Well I hope I emerge from this obscure hole I'm stuck in...

Anonymous said...

Hi Mj. I'm a fellow 'mixed congee' lover who is desperately looking for my daily fix of the stuff. I visited my Aunt in Dallas a few weeks ago and she had a few cans of it and let me take some home. I just ate my last one the other night and now I feel like a junkie who needs their next fix. So I decided to see if I could find anything online and google took me to your blog. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who loves the stuff! I live near Seattle so maybe I'll stop by the Chinatown there and see if there are any stores that carry it. Best of luck with your search!

Wahine in WA

Margaret Larkin said...

I went to a wedding in Chinatown a couple of months ago, and I asked someone who knows English and Chinese well where I can get some congee (which isn't called "congee" but something else--I can't read Chinese). They pointed me towards a store that sells it, and I bought a bunch. Before that, I'd been to Chinatown and the Vietnamese area more than a few times, checking many stores, but no one had it. So now I know where to go :D