Friday, July 01, 2011

Reaching the Finish Line

As I get ready to polish my submission and send out my first erotic romance to a publisher, I am filled with a sense of accomplishment.

Less than a month ago, when I first decided to answer this call for submissions with my own entry, I was swimming in doubt and anxiety.  As the date ticked closer to the deadline, my stress level ratcheted up.  Would I be able to finish my manuscript on time?  Would I have enough time to edit?  What about the synopsis I'd practically forgotten?  Would I have the time to create a solid one?

These questions passed through my head every hour or so and I had to push them aside every time.  Too much time spent wondering "how" and "when" can get in the way of doing it nowThe longer I spent agonizing over whether I would finish my story in time, the less time I had to actually accomplish my goal.

Let me tell you, finishing a project feels great.  Yes, I could spend this time after I've sent off my story to worry whether it will get chosen for publication -- or I can bask in a job well done, to the best of my talent and ability.  The evaluation part of the process, at least for creative writing, is subjective.  I think I wrote a great story but I can't predict what anyone else might think of it.  They might love it or they might shrug their shoulders and say "meh".  Either way, it is now officially out of my control.  So there's no sense in worrying about it, is there?

For now, I want to savour the accomplishment.

For me, the time between writing projects is practically nil so I have literally no time to worry about the current submission.  That also means I have no time to dwell on a job well done.  Today, I will take the time to do just that.  But that doesn't mean that I don't know what I will be writing later today.  I already have it planned.

Photo courtesy of winnond at freedigitalphotos.net

2 comments:

  1. Fingers firmly crossed and Good Luck with your submission :-)

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