“Finished” a Story

So, I kept my butt firmly planted in the chair, ignoring the distractions that tried to pull me away before I got to the end of this short story, which, through no fault of it’s own, has been dragging and slow to write. (I’ve been under the weather, the dog has been sick, details of trying to sell the house bog down my days–you know, life. Add to this, starting a blog.)

So, I saw it through to the end. Yeah!

Now, I’m left with an incredible hodge-podge of fits and starts, with some really magical tale hidden within. Well, ‘editing is easier than writing’ they say, but this may just stretch that old saw past the breaking point.

Still, I’m convinced the story will be worth the struggle to bring it out. I feel a real connection to the POV character, to all the characters really, and to the myth that it’s loosely based upon. When i started, I didn’t have a solid direction, just a vague idea of where I wanted to go. Now, the tale twists around itself like a nest of snakes. Pretty much, it reads like a mess. But, it’s not finished yet. Just “finished.” Which means: lots of editing yet remains before it’s done.

This same process has happened with my last two stories. Both started more as ‘feelings’ or ‘inklings’ of a tale, rather than as ‘beginning+middle+end=story, and they turned out pretty good. I’ve gotten decent feedback from one writers’ group on them, and one came through WriteShop with some very positive comments. At this point, I can actually feel my writing solidifying and improving with each fully-finished story–after the editing–so I know I just need to edit out everything that isn’t the story from what is, tighten the voice of my character, feel the setting around me, and it’ll be good.

So much for finished!