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And you tell me I’m the one you’re not to blame
And you tell me I make you feel the same way
And we talk in circles but we never say
It’s just out of weakness that both of us stayAnd it ought to be easier
When you turn your lights down low
And it ought to be easier
To leave when you know that you have to goLyle Lovett – It Ought to Be Easier
Ain’t that the truth.
Even so, you fiddle and tweak and poke and prod your current work in progress and hold it in your loving arms, but the romance is gone. You are both tired of looking at each other and you don’t have the energy to rekindle the old flame. Yet, you’re having a hard time letting go. Which is funny, because you could be moving on to something fresh.
Like the next draft of your novel, or a new short story, or a tear-stained letter.
Whatever.
The thrill is gone
It’s gone away for good
Oh, the thrill is gone baby
Baby its gone away for good
Someday I know I’ll be over it all baby
Just like I know a man shouldYou know I’m free, free now baby
I’m free from your spell
I’m free, free now
I’m free from your spell
And now that it’s over
All I can do is wish you wellB.B. King – The Thrill is Gone
Sometimes you’ve got to power through to the end so you can begin again. I’m busting my hump to wrap up my second draft because I’m ready for the third. I’ll be hitting it with better organization, and thus a better understanding of what I’m trying to accomplish.
Besides, B.B. is preaching the truth – Once you let go, all you can do is wish it well.
Right about now, I’d like to take my manuscript outside and beat it with a stick.
I wish I could remember where I saw the blog post, but one [published] author had written a post entitled “I hate my f**king book.”
This week, I can clearly empathize.
Oh. Hang in there!
Thanks for the encouragement. The good news is I’ve written about 6k words in the last 24 hours. The allure of honest to god revising (as opposed to a full-on rewrite) has been great motivation to wrap this up.
Do you think it’s okay to ask your manuscript to go outside and select the switch you will use? You can tell it, “Just remember, if you don’t pick one big enough, I’ll go out there and pick one for you.”
Thanks for commenting!
“Do you think it’s okay to ask your manuscript to go outside and select the switch you will use? You can tell it, ‘Just remember, if you don’t pick one big enough, I’ll go out there and pick one for you.'”
As I stand by the door with a box of matches in my hand?
Oh absolutely!
Good for you. Keep running for the finish line!
Your comment from the other day stuck with me. Thanks!
No problem. Glad I could help.
I hear you loud and clear.
By the time I posted off GPL, I could have happily booted the manuscript out the window. But looking back I’m glad I agonized over it so long. In the end, it has to be as good as you can make it before you send it out to fend for itself, otherwise you’re cheating yourself.
so keep at it, Jonathan! It’ll be worth it in the end.
I keep telling myself it is the only way to write something worth reading. Let’s hope so. Thanks for the kind words!