A project's end
It's done. After almost five years of research and writing, I've finished the manuscript for "The Cowboy Girl," my biography of Caroline Lockhart.
Granted, it's hard for any author to officially mark the end of a book project. I finished a draft, which I turned in to my editor. A month ago I finished an earlier (far rougher) draft; three months from now I'll be finishing another draft, based on feedback from the editor and reviewers. After that I'll be looking at copyediting changes, and publicity materials, and. . .
But at some point you have to celebrate. Ideally that point is related to a point at which you feel like you have accomplished something. You've taken a pile of sand and made something you think has meaning. And you want to walk away, at least for a while. That's how I feel now. I've written what I thought I wanted to write. Someday I may learn that I didn't want to write that, or that I didn't accomplish it as well as I'd hoped. But for now I am done.
My attention goes elsewhere: to some shorter essays and better-paying business assignments. I am delighted to find that I can stroll downtown at 3:30 in the afternoon and feel like I am actually engaging with people, rather than being lost in reverie I had finally christened Lockhart-world.
My attention also goes to vacation. This blog will become even more irregular than usual for the next several weeks, as I celebrate and travel and lie on the hammock. I encourage you to do the same.
Join the discussion at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/johnclaytonoutreach/, or let me know your thoughts via info at johnclaytonbooks (and you can fill in the rest).
Granted, it's hard for any author to officially mark the end of a book project. I finished a draft, which I turned in to my editor. A month ago I finished an earlier (far rougher) draft; three months from now I'll be finishing another draft, based on feedback from the editor and reviewers. After that I'll be looking at copyediting changes, and publicity materials, and. . .
But at some point you have to celebrate. Ideally that point is related to a point at which you feel like you have accomplished something. You've taken a pile of sand and made something you think has meaning. And you want to walk away, at least for a while. That's how I feel now. I've written what I thought I wanted to write. Someday I may learn that I didn't want to write that, or that I didn't accomplish it as well as I'd hoped. But for now I am done.
My attention goes elsewhere: to some shorter essays and better-paying business assignments. I am delighted to find that I can stroll downtown at 3:30 in the afternoon and feel like I am actually engaging with people, rather than being lost in reverie I had finally christened Lockhart-world.
My attention also goes to vacation. This blog will become even more irregular than usual for the next several weeks, as I celebrate and travel and lie on the hammock. I encourage you to do the same.
Join the discussion at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/johnclaytonoutreach/, or let me know your thoughts via info at johnclaytonbooks (and you can fill in the rest).
