Dare I Say I Finished?

“Dare I say I finished?” Those were the first words that came to mind when I realized that I had written all I needed to write on my debut novel. That’s right, after numerous starts and stops over the course of 15+ years, I can finally say that I completed the first draft. Sure, it might be total crap. Sure, I might actually never get it to that published state that I’d been dreaming of forever. But finally, after years of rereading it, writing a little piece of it, learning more about the craft of writing, and joining writer’s critique groups, I can say it’s finished.

I didn’t want this day to go by without acknowledging the completion and giving some much-deserved thanks to those who helped me along the way. First, I want to in a strange way thank this pandemic. It allowed for time to cultivate a life free of distractions from the outside world. It caused me to discover new journeys and things about myself along the way.

Secondly, I want to thank Kathy Yorkshire, my latest writing partner. She and I had been meeting while on our job, and keeping in touch via social media and the Marco Polo app, and in this pandemic, we have been keeping each other on par with the challenge that we will not leave out of this pandemic the same way we entered into it, without taking our writing seriously. It was through her that I started taking leaps of faith and honing my craft through signing up for a couple of paid memberships, including Masterclass, which featured Shonda Rhimes and other brilliant writers, and Wild Ink Marketing, who gave me lots of good tips and pointers on not just writing, but owning my status as a writer.

Next, I need to throw in an extra shoutout to one of my friends, whose pen name is Xavier Black, who just happened to stop and write a book within a month or so, and trusted me to be one of his beta readers and ultimately his first-round editor. It was his completion of something that I’d been wanting to achieve to make me realize that the only one standing in the way of my completion was me.

I’d also like to thank Morgan Gist-McDonald, editor and proprietor extraordinaire. I came across her name from Kathy, and on a whim, made a pro bono appointment with her one day, where she gave me advice on publishing and how to get unstuck. And somehow, she was kind enough to take me under her wing and consult with me at various stages in my writing journey, encouraging me to finish and helping me push forward through numerous barriers.

Finally, I have to thank the London Writer’s Salon. I don’t even know how I discovered them. Maybe it was a random Facebook or Twitter post. All I know is that they entered my life when I entered their Zoom room on September 25, 2020. They were a relaxed happy family of writers who gave one rule: for 50 focused minutes, follow Neil Gaiman’s rule of do nothing or write. In truth, they did much more than that: they helped ground me in this pandemic, making it easy for me to commit to a habit of writing a little each day. On top of that, they brought in this idea of intentionality—of committing to something for a block of time, and in that time, doing exactly what I committed to doing. Finally, they introduced me to James Cleer and his theory in book form, Atomic Habits, and the premise that one small degree of change can set a whole chain in motion. This intentionality, coupled with the atomic habit of just sitting down to write for 50 minutes each weekday helped me to really focus on the writing. It also helped me start working on other small habits that led toward the creation of good habits. All I need do is apply them. I know that there will be many more I have to thank in the course of the end result of this journey, regardless of where it leads. Yet I have always been taught that roses should be given to people while they’re still living. So often, people are unaware of their influence, but none of us make our way through without others to cheer us on and encourage us. So thank you.