There are five other books I’d rather be writing than the one I’m working on now. But I still have to finish it, because finishing things is what I do.
This burnout, though, is a sign that I need to stop soon. That’s the way drafting works–I can’t just work on the thing from idea to finished product straight. I have to take breaks. And it’s about time to break again. Just need a complete draft, and then I can stop.
But then I have these five other projects I want to write. I can’t write them all. I have to pick one.
Maybe I just want to be first-drafting again. This rewrite is like a first draft, except my brain expects it to be perfect. It’s kind of exhausting. I’d like to write a real first draft or two–the kind where I’m just following the outline and writing to the end fast so I can find the shape of the story.
The last few years have been years of revision. Maybe this winter will be the winter of drafting. (And the inevitable revision that will interrupt the drafting, I. am. sure.)
But first I have to finish the current project. I’m so wrapped up in it that I can’t even tell how close I am anymore. Feels like it’s going to take years, but it could be a week. *sigh*