When the end's in sight

I have an abominable time estimating how long a rewrite will take me. I think it's because the "real" writing seems like creating the story idea, plot structure, characters, setting, and so on inside my head. It always seems such a simple hop from there to a fully written manuscript.

And then, too, there's the problem that I always assume there are more hours in the day than actually exist. And the problem that I rarely have enough time that I have to stop writing from sheer exhaustion. It happens--but it's always a surprise to me.

But despite my troubles with time estimation, I'm nearing the end of rewriting Juggling the Keystone, a book upon which I'm resting quite a few hopes. As a writer, you can often tell when your writing takes a leap forward. This book is, I believe, a leap and a bound better than my previous manuscript, both in terms of plot structure and writing style. I've had several nibbles of interest from conferences. Now all that remains is to finish polishing and send it out. Sounds simple, right?

Simple and exciting and terrifying. I find it's hard to get started each day, because I'm a little afraid of finishing and sending this baby out into the real world. After all, I'm high on hope right now. If I send it out, I'll probably start hearing a few "no's", no matter how good it is.

This is an unexpected hurdle to cross, but I guess I'll get past it the same way as all the others: one step at a time. Happy writing, wherever your writing road take you today!

:) Cheryl