Today, I sent a 340-page (just shy of 100,000 words) manuscript to my editor and agent. I was thirteen days early, unless one considers the fact that my Feb. 7th deadline was a revised one. Normally, I deliver my books between Oct. 1 and Dec. 1. This means that I did not complete a novel in 2010, the first time I have failed to do so since 1996. Granted, I didn’t even start this book until February, which means I managed to write it in less than twelve months. But I still feel a little sad about breaking my own streak even if, through the wonders of fast-track publishing — and assuming it’s deemed acceptable — I will have a title out this year.
But I finished! Sort of. (There are more drafts to come.) And that calls for a celebration, which has so far taken shape this way.
Walk to office supply store for paper, a memory stick and computer cleaner.
Have slice of veggie pizza.
Stop at drugstore for chocolate, a diet Sprite and a battery-powered fabric shaver.
Stop at bookstore to sign stock of THE GIRL IN THE GREEN RAINCOAT and pure-pleasure reading: THE WEIRD SISTERS, LORD OF MISRULE, ONE DAY and MAJOR PETTIGREW’S LAST STAND. These will go into the TBR pile behind the Sondheim book (which inspired my title) and A VISIT FROM THE GOON SQUAD.
Later today — I’ll go to the nice wine store for a bottle of chardonnay.
Tomorrow, I’ll get up and start revising, even as my editor is editing. Tricky, risky even, but it works for us. By getting a headstart, I put myself in a head space where I’m not glum when the marked-up pages come back to me because I’m trying to think like an editor.
Last week, I was at Eckerd College for the annual writers conference, Writers in Paradise. I did manuscript consultations and I urged the students to ask themselves if they were “finishers” or “procrastinators.” Both types have their disadvantages. Finishers, of which I am one, love to finish so much that they might rush a bit. Procrastinators are perfectionists, which means they have a vested interest in never finishing. (If it’s not finished, it can’t be found wanting.)
I ask this blog’s visitors today: Which are you? And how do you celebrate when you finish something big?
Finisher. And yes, I might rush too much to get there. Celebration takes the form of LEAVING THE HOUSE any time I damn well please. Going out to take pictures of birds and lions, going to Costco, going to movies in the daytime. Freedom! For a week or so, anyway.
Procrastinator-big time! And for exactly the reason you identified: if it’s not finished it can’t be found wanting AND, even if it is found wanting, well what can you expect since I did it in only the last hour, day, week (depending on the magnitude of the project).
Celebration-huge sign of relief followed by a glass of a nice chardonnay (something a grade up from the house box).
Funny you should ask that today of all days. Funny because I found myself thinking about picking up the project again, finally, after way to long. I guess I’m a procrastinator. I manage to find lots of other things to do and I tell myself that perhaps I don’t have time to write. However, today I find myself with a boat load of time in front of me and you asking me a question about which am I. I can feel you nudging me and whispering in my ear to get back to the writing and I think I will. How do I celebrate? I plan a trip, I get to go someplace I wouldn’t ordinarily go. I haven’t planned a trip in awhile. Guess I better get writing. Thank you Laura for the nudge. I needed it.
Procrastinator, not only because it might not be perfect, but also because I have never been able to shake the need to apologize if it’s good. A recipe for paralysis, if ever was.
Congratulations, and even if this book weren’t coming out this year, you could count GIRL IN THE GREEN RAINCOAT as your publication for 2011.
your title drew me in b/c yesterday I finished knitting a hat I started Christmas Eve–I wanted to wear it, not look at it, while winter was still here. A finisher, definitely, b/c no one pays for a half-finished article, project, (or book) or anything, and you can’t wear a half-finished hat/sweater. Celebrate? By using the energized surge of finishing to start, even with just a few words, the next big thing!
Finisher, of course. I’m in a hurry. My family’s history of short life hovers over me like the raven. In ten years, I could be in a pewter urn on the mantle. But I swear I�ll slow my writing as Laura suggested at Eckerd. I tend to skip the important parts (Plot, Character) and rush headlong to the part of the novel I’m interested in, (Action, Climax)
Congrats on the GIRL IN THE GREEN RAINCOAT. Heading to B&N with my wife for a latte and the book.
Wonderful. Having my hand on your book is getting closer and closer
Finisher. But not with the whole project. Oh, no. I set intermediate goals for myself and count it “finished” as I complete each of these. I celebrate by crossing that piece of the project off my list. I hate actually finishing with the entire thing. It’s always anti-climactic, a bit disappointing, because then I have to figure out what my next big project will be. This is why I usually have several big projects going at the same time. And heaven help me if they’re all completed within a short period of time from each other!
Procras….I’ll tell you later.
I am a plodder; I very much like finishing (part of being male, I think) – but as I get older, tinkering and fooling around before being finished becomes more appealing.
‘Course, in my case we’re not talking about writing
finisher…get it done so i can move on to the next thing, and finish it, and go to the next thing….well, you get the idea!
You didn’t have a category for finisher, sender then regreter…
Pizza and champagne.
So happy for you!!!
I am a CHRONIC procrastinator.
I’ll let you know how I celebrate when I finally finish something.
I really want to be a finisher.
John S.,
Last week, meeting with students such as John W. — thanks for such a great week, John W.! — I tried to identify what was keeping people from finishing things. I should note that I have a few areas in my life where I procrastinate, often very easy things, such as returning e-mails, getting things in the mail, etc., and I haven’t figured out why I cause myself such grief over such trivial things. However, when it comes to big projects, finishing can be achieved by:
1) Breaking the big project into smaller pieces.
2) Creating REALISTIC goals and deadlines.
3) Not allowing another project to dissipate your energies.
At least one student I met with over the past week (not John W.) seemed to be caught in a triangle between two very different works and could not choose between them. My advice was that a choice had to be made, I didn’t care what it was, but the student needed to pick ONE. Otherwise, when one project bogged down, there was always the option of running back to the other one, which felt fresh and sexy. This potentially could go on forever.
And now — back to the to-do list. On which I’m making decent progress for once.
ha ha, Feste.
If don’t post now, impulsively, I’ll think too much about it and not be ready to respond until everyone has moved on to the next thread.
So, yeah…procrastinator from birth.
As for celebrating a finish, I’m such a self-indulgent dilettante that I’m usually just moving on to another project that’s already been started and is marinating in the wings. About seven or eight years ago, though, I completed a custom (5-foot-high) stained-glass window I’d been creating in my spare time forever (over a hundred pieces in an over-sized gardenia, alone), and supervised it’s installation (with double-glazing, no less) in a friend’s home, at which time I went into a celebratory fugue state.
I am a finisher of things I enjoy doing and a procrastinator on those chores (work tasks) that I don’t find very interesting (usually the things that actually generate income). Consequently, the latter are the ones I tend to reward myself for finishing. My typical reward is to purchase a special coffee and snack from Wegmans, then consume it while watching something on TV (a long awaited movie or some escapist fare), far from my computer.
I LOVED both Major Pettigrew and Weird Sisters.
Don’t procrastinate on your TBR pile.
If you are in not good state and have no cash to go out from that point, you will require to take the loan. Just because it should help you for sure. I take short term loan every year and feel myself great because of that.