On Finishing a Manuscript

For me, life has always been systematic.

In September, you go back to school. At the end of October, it’s time to trick or treat. From November to the end of December, the holidays consume all. At the end of May, it’s time for summer vacation! And somewhere in the middle of all of it, you celebrate your birthday.

Until I turned 21, I unknowingly regarded each of my years as the latest in a cycle of favorite occurrences. These cycles came to be the defining aspect of my life, even after graduating high school, as I went straight into four-year college, straight into another systematic routine. Then, when I finally joined the mainstream workforce, I cruised right from August into September and nothing changed, whatsoever.

That gets you thinking. Life changes. Systems eventually end. Routines change. And as you grow older, you acquire new things to look forward to. With that said, there is one system I have begun in my early adulthood that (so far) seems to be forming into a new routine. The routine is much more widespread. It does not occur annually, nor does it take place on a specific day. What it does have are recurring elements. The routine is that of finishing a manuscript.

I spend years developing a novel and always begin by completing a rough draft. I have started many novels and finished two. Some just never make it off the shelf. I might even get 100 pages into it before it tragically halts, like an unfinished bridge with tons of angry, honking cars stuck behind it. Angry as they may be, it can’t be helped. Something went wrong. Or, something went right. Something changed within me and convinced me to shift my focus.

Much was the case with my unfinished manuscript, The Meridian Legend, which invented the concept of Meridian Killers. I was 150 pages in, and then I stopped. The reason was that I had been struck with inspiration for another character within the very same world, and he demanded I get to work developing him. That project then became my debut novel, Barker’s Rules. Unlike The Meridian Legend and a few prior projects, this one was going to be finished. I think I realized it when I was about 200 pages in and still had more content to dish out. It hit me like a falling rafter. This was going to be my first. 

To describe how I felt in that moment, and for the duration of the project, the best word I can find is exhilarating. So exhilarated was I that on the night of the final chapters I stayed up until morning, with the lights dimmed and a storm raging outside, penning the final, chaotic chapters of the suspense thriller. I was never one to skip sleep, and I hated waking up early. But a voice in my head told me this. 

So, tonight you’ll get two hours of rest. When you wake up tomorrow, you’ll have your first finished novel.

And when I woke up the next morning, I was tired as all get out, but I had something that I would forever cherish.

For so long I had dreamt of writing complete manuscripts. I had done so much planning, so much outlining, and so much practice. But on that day, I proved to myself that it was more than just a dream. This occurred on November 18^th, 2014.

As I began work on Living in Fear, a sequel featuring a returning cast of characters, I was hit with a variety of challenges. Try as I might, I just could not get the sequel to work the way the original had. I wrote 50 pages and had to start over. Then I wrote 100 pages new, and had to start over. Finally, I arrived at an approach that seemed reasonable and fitting for the setting and characters. I began my third approach and made it halfway through the manuscript—just as I had for Barker’s Rules—when I realized I was capable of finishing the draft. What went through my mind this time was more complex.

Completing Barker’s Rules could have been a fluke. I could have written one book and lost my spark thereafter. 

But when I realized that a second book was going to be completed, something became very real to me. And that was that I am a fiction author. If I set my mind to a book, if I am determined and passionate enough about a story to sound out every detail in a structured sequence, then another book will be completed. And another, and another. This brought me a mixture of emotions: excitement, satisfaction, happiness, and fear. Yes, fear. Many challenges lie ahead, as life only gets busier, and I have more and more stories that I want to publish.

The completion of my second rough manuscript happened on September 6^th, 2016. Like on a birthday or an annual holiday, the joy that followed was exactly the same. Finishing two manuscripts was a journey that convinced me to never step off this path. It was an important quest, which I encourage every artist to embark on.