Sunday 15 March 2009

The End is (almost, sort of) Nigh

So – I’m coming to the end of the first draft of novel number three. There are only two more chapters left to write, I know (more or less) what needs to happen and I’m even still in first-draft-love with it. Nonetheless, I’m struggling.

In fact, my typing fingers seemed to have transformed into snails. And not just any snails. Obese, elderly snails in a going-backwards race.

This is probably partly because I have quite an ending in mind, which I’m a little scared of writing, but I also suspect that I’m on go-slow because I don’t actually want to finish. I’m aware that I’ll need to hide this one away for as long as I can possibly help it before I go back in again, on the editing attack, for draft two. And, as infuriating and disturbing as the writing has sometimes been, it’s also been such an exhilarating pleasure that I don’t want to say goodbye. Not just yet.

But there are a lot of things about to happen around these parts. There are more job things and children things that I need to focus on, and other-book things too (including finally finishing my creative writing MA and practising reading for next week’s Exclusively Independent event). I really should complete this draft – if only to begin it all over again, sooner.

But instead, what am I doing? I seem to be thinking about snails still, about how generally beautiful their trails are, and how strange their eyes and mouths, and about the snail hospital my sister and I ran when we were kids . . . And I’m even blogging about them too.

Please help.

5 comments:

annie clarkson said...

oh, how lovely (the snails), even snails get there in the end. I have a theory about snails that actually they speed up when we're not looking. I have snails in my house sometimes (which I'm not very happy about) and I'm amazed by how quickly they can get across the room.

well done for nearly getting there. I think it's understandable to be sad coming towards the end...

Jon M said...

Tricky one that, putting the draft away to fester...

Snails are okay...garlic butter?

DJ Kirkby said...

Ooooh you are so busy! Love the bit about snails and now I want to read something you've written about snails please... xo

Sheila said...

A snail is climbing up the window-sill
into your room, after a night of rain.
You call me in to see, and I explain
that it would be unkind to leave it there:
it might crawl to the floor; we must take care
that no one squashes it. You understand,
and carry it outside, with careful hand,
to eat a daffodil.
Fleur Adcock - 1964

Megan said...

Thank you everyone!!

Hello OrLaNd ( :

Annie, thank you for your words of wisdom - 'even snails get there in the end' - yes we will!!

But Jon, if we don't, it'll be garlic butter and salt and those mini Barbie-sized forks all the way

DJ - you are lovely, but don't tell me to write more about snails, I have too much to do (even though I want to now)

Welcome Mairi and an enormous thank you for that very amazing poem - that's rather marvellous