Yesterday I finished Gold Rush Girl. I put the last words on the last page and saved the last and final copy. I still have a feeling of euphoria, of lightness, and of joy. The feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment is sweeter than any other I’ve felt. I’m telling you it feels better than the last final on the last day of my last class in graduate school.
I once read a question that someone asked a writer. “How do you know when you’re done revising? How do you know when to stop?”
The simple answer was, “You just know. When it’s done, you’ll know it.”
I can’t describe it any more succinctly than that. I know my novel is done. My baby, my child, Lucinda Martin York, has come to life, and lives in the pages of my novel.
Instead of feeling exhausted and depleted, I feel just the opposite. I’m energized and jazzed. I can’t wait to begin revising some of the other stories I have languishing on my hard drive, and now, as I look around, I see new story ideas everywhere. My fingers can’t get to the keyboard fast enough for the next project.
I love this craft.
