A few months ago, something extraordinary happened. I’d been working on a middle-grade novel for about two years and had spent the past year revising, editing, and fretting over it. I reworked scenes, cut characters, tweaked sentences, and battled my perfectionism. While revising chapter two once again, I suddenly paused mid-sentence. I realized I was simply making changes for the sake of making changes, and my nitpicking wasn’t improving the story. I was done with the novel, at least for now.  I pushed back my chair and jumped to my feet. I was done! DONE! I called my mom, texted my friends, and ditched cooking to dine out with my husband and celebrate.

I felt inexplicably lighthearted and free. The project had occupied some serious real estate on my creative bandwidth and had been constantly on my mind. I’d often drift off to sleep thinking of dialogue or wake with new plotline ideas to refine.  Releasing the story gave me new wings and a tremendous sense of completion. I’d run my marathon with words and crossed a hard-earned finish line. I can direct my creative energy toward something new. It felt heady and spicy and full of possibilities.

I have rewritten a few novels in the past, but I usually moved on when a new idea came swooping in or when I fell out of love with the story I was working on. However, with this novel, I stuck with it through numerous revisions — more than any of my previous books. I didn’t abandon the novel in search of something better. I didn’t abandon the novel even though I wanted to more than once. I pushed through resistance, creative blocks, and self-doubt. The story has run through two Book Revision Labs, and I couldn’t make it any stronger without taking time away from it. I’d completed, revised, and polished it. I didn’t experience any guilt that often accompanies abandoning a project before its time.

The next step is to query the manuscript and find a literary agent or publishing house. I attended a conference last fall, which provided an opportunity to submit my manuscript to various agents and editors. Although this part of the process is admittedly less fun than dreaming up a new story, it’s a necessary step to ensure my story will someday reach the hands of children.   

So often, we discuss the challenges of drafting and revising, but we don’t always focus on the joy that comes with completing our revisions and feeling proud of our work. It’s okay to be done – it’s something to celebrate! As my writing buddies have reminded me, you’ve invested your time and effort into this novel, and now it’s time to move forward. The future looks bright.