Some of you know the lyrics:
“Now’s the time to say goodbye to all our company . . . “
That point is nearly here for the novel I’ve spent the last twenty months writing, and I’m having a hard time. I have to say goodbye very soon.
There’s a grief that comes from saying goodbye to people you’ve spent a lot of time with–whether your family or old friends.
For characters you’ve created and lived with, cried with, fought with and stood in awe over, finishing the writing of a book means saying goodbye. Click to Tweet
They’re alive and changeable when you’re in charge and writing their story.
Once they’re printed, they belong to the world and you can’t correct the mistakes anymore.
You can’t console, laugh with and help them out.
It’s like when you’re a parent and your child grows up. Your job is done. They’re adults and on their own.
(Hey! Aren’t they? Isn’t the job of a parent to raise an adult?)
The same with the characters you’ve created in your book.
Oh, they’ll always be there, just a cover and a few pages away, but your task as the writer is done. Click to Tweet
Like children who’ve flown the coop, the characters remain in your heart and mind long after you’ve sent them off to the publisher.
They can become real to others. My husband said just the other day, “I was thinking about Claire and how she needs to know this truth.”
Too late.
Trying to delay the inevitable, I play with a word census and strengthen the verbs. I examine sections I’m not sure about and tinker.
I reread the death of a primary character and I remember how after I wrote that scene, I was so sad I wore black the entire next day in mourning.
How do I know when I’m done?
I’m getting there.
I know goodbye is coming.
Honestly, it’s got some connections to the infamous five stages of grief. Here’s how:
1. Denial and Isolation
I can’t be done yet. I need to spend more time changing tiny things.
2. Anger
Why didn’t I find this fact earlier in the research?
3. Bargaining
I know if I just tweak this little part again, it will be perfect. I’m not done. Give me another week and it will be perfect.
4. Depression
What do people do in the evenings when they’re not writing books? Click to Tweet
5. Acceptance
It is what it is. I’m going to let it go and see what happens.
That’s when the adrenaline high of finishing comes in!
It’s time to say goodbye. I just have to read the book one more time! 🙂 Click to Tweet
Related articles
- How to Say Goodbye to those Beloved Characters (kaseymoone.wordpress.com)
Dear Michelle, Maybe you will be saying goodbye to the process but now you will see the character come alive to all of your readers (old and new). Does your book have a name or a publishing date? I can’t seem to find either. I’m probably just missing it. CONGRATULATIONS! I look forward to reading your book. Gilda
Thanks for asking, Gilda! It has not been sold yet, but the process is just starting. I’ve got interested editors requesting it and that’s exciting!
In addition to this one, though, my The Yuletide Bride comes out in October as part of The White Christmas Brides. It’s a real fun story that takes place in 1873 Nebraska and features bagpipes! 🙂
That is part of why I will never be an author. It is too personal and revealing. I prefer to have friends who are writers. Love you.
LOL. Another book will show up demanding to be written, indeed, two more wait in the wings!
Well, I think I understand a little bit. Thats how I feel when I finish a good book…I can’t say goidbye! Will continue to pray for you because I know there’s a new story rolling around in your head.
Thank you, Jo! 🙂
I got a question over on Google+ “20 months to write a book?” And I thought it was worth answering:
So, H—,do you think that’s a short amount of time or a long amount? 🙂
I’ve gone back and forth, but for the record, I work part time, teach a Bible study and wasn’t looking for this story when an editor suggested I write it. Because it’s about WWI, I had to do enough research to be able to discuss war events intelligently in my story.
If that wasn’t enough, in 2013, four of my books released which meant I had to do a lot of marketing and publicity; we had an unexpected move which required packing out, finding a new place, moving and unpacking, plus having nine people living in the house for most of the summer. Coupled with a family birth and three major research trips (including one visit to the trenches in France), it was a pretty exhausting 20 months. 🙂
So, on the one hand, 20 months is MUCH longer than I anticipated and expected when I started in January 2013, but 20 months given all the other things that happened, is pretty amazing, too. 🙂
Thanks for asking.:-)
Did H reply to that? If so, how?