I just got home from another day in the office. This is the 10th post in a row. I’m not sure it will be very long, but we’ll see what we can do!
Personal News
The thing about going into the office is that I have to get up early, and I don’t get home until late. My day is shrunk, and I’m generally more tired by the end of it. After two days in a row, I’m exhausted. Almost like having a cat in heat, yowling in the wee hours of the morning.
I’m tired, but it’s Wednesday night, and I want to play games with my friends. I still have some packing to do, but it doesn’t usually take me very long to get ready.
Upcoming Events and Such
The only event in my mind is the one directly in front of me. Arisia 2024. I’ve never been to it, and I don’t think I’m going to know very many people there. I’m not on any of the programming. All I know at this point is that I’m going to work the Water Dragon table as much as I can, and hope that I do a good job.
The Topic: Finishing Projects
As a writer, it’s extremely important to finish your projects. It’s equally important for programmers.
When is a story finished? When the writer types “The End”? After the final edit from your publisher? After the last copy of it has been sold?
The line is different for different stories, I think. There’s a few stories I’ve written that will never see the light of day. There are some that I started and abandoned. Then there The Repossessed Ghost which is out in the world, and One for the Road which will be out in the world Soon®.
I believe that a story can be finished multiple times. Or, a writer is called upon to finish multiple stages. It is a milestone to finish the first draft. It is another milestone to complete the next revision, and the revisions after that. There is a finishing point after submitting the story to your critique group and taking in their feedback. And for some of us lucky few, there are stages during the publishing process.
If you’re struggling as a writer, it’s good to narrow your focus to the stage you’re on, and just finish that. Finish the first draft. If that’s too big a target, finish the chapter. Or finish the paragraph. Some days, it’s all you can do to finish each sentence. Finishing one can give strength to finish the next, until you have a whole pile of sentences that hopefully, someday, you can shape into something presentable.