On my desk is a box that used to contain a ream of typing paper but now holds a 400-page manuscript that I wrote.
Yep, it’s a book.
Unlike many authors, I know with certainty that, if I revise this manuscript, it will be published. Yet it has lain in its box for many years.
During this period, I have been living comfortably. I have gotten re-married, set up a new household, enjoyed what the days have offered me. Started new projects. I have been blogging.
But now my thoughts are turning to this manuscript. I believe it’s time to finish it off.
Whether I can do it, and how, are questions I pondered in January. Although I do have my doubts, I’ve taken the manuscript out of its box. I’m amazed to have written such a thing. It seems like an unfamiliar marvel, to tell you honestly.
Undertaking to revise it is exciting. Working on a big project requires a special set of skills as well as a distinctive kind of emotional mobilization. One must feed the psyche in order to keep going! Because of this, I am constantly looking for personal nourishment and inspiration when at work on a project of this kind. Sometimes it’s enough to recall the paradigms that kept me going in the past–but because the power of any one inspiration eventually wears off, I’m always looking for something new to animate and inspire me.
For now, I am reading the sections of the manuscript that need the least fixing, in pursuit of the vision that will embolden me to wade in.
harley says
I hope you revise it and that publishing will happen. I have enjoyed your postings very much and of course now I recognize with certainty that you are a great writer !
Celia says
Thank you for the lovely compliment–I have to say blogging does a lot for me. I plan to stay at it while working on the other project. Thank you for the encouragement, Harley.
Janet says
That’s quite exciting! I do hope you will share, from time to time, your progress…and a little more about what the subject matter is (hint, hint). 🙂
Celia says
It is exciting–I am happy to have decided to do it. It’s about the social life of an (unnamed) American city in an earlier century. I do plan to post, not so much about the book, as about the process of working on it, from time to time. I know the next few months will be memorable and challenging, like one of your riskier mountain climbs!
Mary Beth says
The first step, taking it out of the box, was a big one. Congratulations! I’m anxious to hear about the process.
Celia says
Gee, Mary Beth, thank you. Working on a big piece of writing does stir up many issues–and you’re right–deciding to do it is a crucial step in itself.