And no, they’re not all just variations on “and then.” They’re all possible variations on twenty-six simple little letters, higgledy-piggledy arrangements of sound and thought and meaning, and the images that leap out of them are a magic of physical manifestation that put you in actual touch with something you can’t explain but know now no one has ever lived without.
The miracle of fiction.
The party in your head just got a little more fun.
It used to just be you and your alter-egos, the Nice You and the Mean You. Most of that was full-contact wrestling between the Nice You and the Mean You, with the Real You standing by, shaking your head, and saying, “Hey, guys. . .guys. . .guys! It’s getting kind of warm in here—”
But now that’s only a minor aspect to the 24-hour excitement. Now the main stage is taken by a whole host of riveting characters meeting, talking, dancing, sparring, lying, confessing, stealing, recovering, moving and moving and moving around each other in an infinite choreography of fascination. The temperature’s gone way up. . .and YOU DON’T MIND AT ALL.
You’re smarter than you used to be.
You know so much more about words and what they can do, language and what it’s meant for, communication and why we need it to survive. You also know far more than you ever have about human nature and how the thousands of interactions between people even in a single day add up to life and what it’s all about.
You even get—in an ethereal and intangible sort of way, when the wind is right—how the whole of humanity is greater than the sum of its parts.
You’re more alive than you used to be.
Your careful, note-taking attention to vivid details has made your world vastly more of an experience for you. You hear more things, see more things, feel more things. When you’re miserable you can identify a hundred nuances, when you’re laughing you hear the interweave and cacophony of how voices blend and emerge, when you’re quiet your physical self is so alive it’s like you’re on drugs. And free! Without hangovers!
You’re saner than you used to be.
Now and for the rest of your life, even when you’re overwhelmed, you still have this foundation on which to stand: the incessant inquiry into, What is happening to me?What are its significant and insignificant parts?How am I reacting?What do I understand about it?What if it’s something other than what I’ve always assumed it was?
Your options for understanding yourself and others are opening outward in all directions like eyes seeing for the very first time.
And even more importantly, your options for understanding your own beliefs about reality and meaning are far more complex, profound, and intriguing than ever before.
You’ve gone to the core. You’ve wrestled with the angel.
And the angel has taught you—just a smidgen of—their secrets.
9 thoughts on “5 Things to Celebrate About Finishing Your First Draft”
This is wonderful! There are so many things a writer should look back on with a successful attitude once they’ve reached this point. It’s important to take stock in the accomplishment! May we link this post for inspiration to other writers in our Friday blog round-up?
This was awesome. I still feel the glow of finishing my first draft, even though I finished it months ago and the shine of the writing is wearing off. Yeah, I have a long way to go, but I finished my first-ever first draft. And that makes me smiley 🙂
I’m in total agreement with Ann … I finished the first draft of my memoir and although I spend lots of time worrying about the revision process and whatever else comes next I still sometimes allow myself to pat myself of the back and be really reallly proud that I finished the first draft.
What a fantastic post! I’ve finished many first drafts, but I’m assuming you’re talking about the first first draft. I love the “party in your head” section. Haha!
I’m celebrating feeling that little click inside my brain. I”m sure you know what I”m referring to … it’s a physical feeling of just understanding how it works better, walking through life with a different perspective for every single thing that happens before my eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Another great post.
Even though this is my first post, I’ve been reading your blog for a while and often find your approach to writing to be fundamentally enhancing.
As Stephen King says in his ‘On Writing’ : Art is the fuel of life and not vice versa.
I completely agree with that stance, which is also clearly visible in your article. Art and Literature are perhaps the best way of arranging one’s experiences and find something better and more beautiful.
This is wonderful! There are so many things a writer should look back on with a successful attitude once they’ve reached this point. It’s important to take stock in the accomplishment! May we link this post for inspiration to other writers in our Friday blog round-up?
Thanks so much!
Yes, of course, guys! Link to anything you want. Thanks for asking!
This was awesome. I still feel the glow of finishing my first draft, even though I finished it months ago and the shine of the writing is wearing off. Yeah, I have a long way to go, but I finished my first-ever first draft. And that makes me smiley 🙂
I’m in total agreement with Ann … I finished the first draft of my memoir and although I spend lots of time worrying about the revision process and whatever else comes next I still sometimes allow myself to pat myself of the back and be really reallly proud that I finished the first draft.
What a fantastic post! I’ve finished many first drafts, but I’m assuming you’re talking about the first first draft. I love the “party in your head” section. Haha!
All true. The world would be a better place if everyone in it wrote at least one novel.
I’m celebrating feeling that little click inside my brain. I”m sure you know what I”m referring to … it’s a physical feeling of just understanding how it works better, walking through life with a different perspective for every single thing that happens before my eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Another great post.
Hi.
Even though this is my first post, I’ve been reading your blog for a while and often find your approach to writing to be fundamentally enhancing.
As Stephen King says in his ‘On Writing’ : Art is the fuel of life and not vice versa.
I completely agree with that stance, which is also clearly visible in your article. Art and Literature are perhaps the best way of arranging one’s experiences and find something better and more beautiful.