Draft One DONE!

 

I finished draft one on Monday, 4/5/21, but it took me almost a week to post about it just because I've been emotionally drained.

I knew that might happen, I'd heard as much from other writer friends who've told me how the high of finishing was immediately accompanied by overwhelming and competing thoughts like "holy shit what now?" and "is it any good" and "there's a million things to change" and "where do I start" and "i need a break."

I decided to take example from Greta, who took about 3-4 weeks off after her last draft to refill her own well.  She spent time reading, working on an old short story, and engaging some writing prompts so she could come back to the work with fresh eyes and some distance.  Sounds perfect to me.  

I've been on a fiction hiatus since about mid-January in an attempt to further focus my efforts on my own writing, and it's created a void in me that definitely needs to be filled.  As if to prove the point, I tore through two books in four days this week and am already halfway through a third.  Tackling as many books as possible in my TBR pile seems like a really great way for me to spend the next few weeks.  

And of course, continuing to go to the Monday night IG writing sprints that Greta hosts.  Those have proven to be invaluable in the last five months, as has the community that joins them.  I ended up finishing the Epilogue for D1 during the Monday sprint.  Sharing that moment with ten other writers who have all been there and know what it feels like, not to mention with Greta specifically after all of her guidance and encouragement this last year was very special.

I felt just as supported when I posted about it on IG/FB.  I've really wrestled in the last year with what to share about this project just because I knew it would hit so close to home for so many in the camp community.  I didn't want to set expectations for something I couldn't even finish, and I definitely didn't want to disappoint anyone.  Now that I've got that first draft done, I know I've got it in me to finish.  Posting about it just became a way to thwart "assured destruction" in the sense that there's no way I'm NOT going to follow through now that I've opened my big fat mouth.  

Truly, that was the real reason for the post.  Additional accountability.  But what I also got out of it was hundreds of people sending me their support.  It was by far the most liked and commented post I've ever had, in the thirteen years I've been on social media.  Over three hundred people liked it in some way/shape/form on FB.  And the comments that came in, even from people who I'd forgotten followed me because it's been so long since we interacted...they were all just wonderful.  

I've really connected with the idea that creativity is it's own reward, so acknowledgements from social media aren't really a prize.  "Like counts" don't really matter in the scheme of things.  Am I writing something I enjoy, that makes me enthusiastic to return to the page, and that tells a story I want to hear?  Yes?  Great.  But I'll tell you, with a project so close to the hearts of so many, it was nice to be able to put a thumb in the wind to just get a sense of the direction before I move to the next step.

I'm marking my calendar for May third as my "return to edit" date.  I may post writing prompts,  drabbles, and other writing related blog posts here over the coming weeks, but if you're looking for the straight up scoop on Camp Courage, check back here in early May!