The Importance of Finishing What I Started

I’m not going to lie…I’m addicted to writing.

Which is why I can’t pass up any session of NaNoWriMo or Camp NaNoWriMo. No matter how hard I try…

I told myself this past Camp (in April) was going to be my last. I’ve proven to myself over and over again that I CAN write 50,000 words in a month. Hell, when I had 3 different freelance projects at the same time, I was sometimes writing over 80,000 words.

But it started to feel like the confines of NaNo were causing me to gloss over important parts just to get them done. Or to write rambling scenes instead of taking the time to pin down my focus before getting down to work.

And yet, here we are a few days into another session and I’m signed up, I’m writing my book, and I’m a member of a pretty great cabin.

That’s the thing. Having cabin mates makes Camp. We talk about writerly things, help each other when stuck on plot points, and just generally cheer one another on.  That’s the draw for me. ALL GOOD THINGS.

There is a downside to all these manic writing sessions, though. This also means I have a lot of half-finished or unedited manuscripts on my hard drive. BUT I have a secret weapon for that!

As I mentioned before, I’m now a member of the HWA and also signed up to work with a mentor through the Mentorship program. My mentor, Loren, has been a great help to me already. Always there with great advice and being a cheerleader (one can never have too many!), she’s also been keeping me on track by giving me deadlines.

I spent the good part of a month reworking the first chapters of my current book and she’s going to be reading those and giving me feedback. But that doesn’t mean I get to sit back with my feet up and sip iced coffee all summer. Well…that I’ll do…but I have a new deadline to send her the next five chapters in a month! Which means I will need all that iced coffee…

So as I finish writing the end of this book during Camp, I’ll also be taking a look at the chapters already in the bag. This is all new territory for me. Like I said, I have no less than 5 manuscripts in various states of completion. But none have gone through a full editing process. Right now, I’m doing minor repairs on the chapters. When the book is done, it’ll be time to look at the book as a whole, and then rip it apart and make it amazing.

And yet…I still have a million other book ideas that I want to write! Which is why I NEED to finish this book already! I don’t want to be writing the same book over and over for the rest of my life! I want people to READ it.

Which means…I better get that coffee brewing…it’s going to be a busy summer.