We Are All Works-In-Progress
How close are you to finishing your book?
I've been getting this question a lot lately. And it makes sense. It makes sense because I've been working on this novel for years now and because I announced recently that I was taking time off from this blog to finish my book. Well, it's clear that I'm not A+ at staying away from this place. And it's also becoming increasingly clear to me that I am nowhere near finishing my book.
There, I said it. You can all stop asking now.
I've decided that this is okay. That I might not be weeks out from finishing my book. I might be more like months or even a year. And I know this probably won't make my agent or my editor - or me - super-jazzed, but it's the truth. And I am embracing it. Because here's the deal. I have a really full and busy life right now. I have three tiny girls. And I love them to pieces and I want to spend time with them. I will not get these years back. No. These little creatures of mine will grow up and get tall and wise and need me less. I'm not going to miss these years.
But that doesn't mean I'm not going to work, either. I'm working really hard. I'm making progress. My story is coming along and it is a good story. It is a story about life and love and friendship and time. It is a story about all of the things I love to think about here.
It will happen.
Years from now, when I look back on these years, I will see them as tricky and wonderful years. Years of juggling and exhaustion and joy. I will see them as my babies-and-books years. And I know something. I know it with all of my being. I will not regret taking a longer time than I had hoped to finish my second book. But I will regret missing too many moments with my girls.
Anyway, a ramble. But a much-needed one.
A semi-aside: All of us are works-in-progress. All of us are drafts, messy, marked-up, rough-cut beginnings of things. All of us need energy and editing and polish. And time.
There is no rush.
How do you balance kids and other stuff that's important to you? Do you agree that we are all proverbial works-in-progress? Are you willing to wait a bit for my next masterpiece? :)