WEDNESDAY (REALLY!): ONE DAY MORE

To say my plate is full these days is an understatement. I have a list of things to do for church, things that have to be done. We’re planning a trip to Europe this summer to visit my daughter and her family. We have some issues with our almost 80-year-old home that we can’t ignore much longer.

But I’m still valiantly trying to make writing my first priority. The final revision of Return to Rainbow Ridge is becoming like the renovation of a house or a car. There are some parts that obviously need to be replaced, either because they are rotten or don’t fit. Other parts can be reused, but need to be cleaned and restored to what they should be. Then you have to fit them all back together to make a whole. Even then, you need to stand back and look at it, see if it looks right.

That’s what I’m doing with this first novel. About 1/3 of the previous version is gone, deleted. About another 1/4 is moving around or being revised. I’m working hard to take out what needs to go, add back things that need to be there, and fix up the rest.

Not having an external deadline is a mixed blessing. I get to keep going to do what needs to be done, unhindered by some artificial external deadline. But that lack of an outside schedule requirement is also the no so good part—no pressure to GET IT DONE.

I will get there, and I hope it will be a great story—someday. It may be hard to let it go. After all, it’s been my baby for more than 2 years. But it will be time. After all, there are dozens of more stories yet to be written.