Join the 1 percent!

I finished my book draft the other night, after four and a half years of almost daily writing. My writing partner, Leslie, is almost done with her draft, too. This has taken us four and a half years of steady writing and biweekly feedback meetings. We’ve worked to avoid lamenting how long we have taken. Our conversation pattern:

“I can’t believe how long this is taking. Do most people take four years to write a draft?”

“Who cares how long it takes? The point is that we are working steadily.”

“We’ve created all this organized narrative, where nothing existed before!”

“Of all the people who say, ‘I want to write a book,’ how many ever do it?”

“But my book is too long! It’s going to be so hard to cut tons during the rewrite.”

“It’s a wealth of material for essays. Every juicy thing we have to remove we can turn into a fun memoir essay. Look how much material we have!”

“We’re like billionaires!”

“We are the one percent!”

That four and a half years was going to pass by us whether we wrote or not. And we did! What’s your project? I can promise you, if you stick with it, it’s going to feel GREAT to hit a milestone. 

Carving out the time can be hard. I’m fortunate to work part time. But I sacrifice other worthwhile things in order to write. Of course, the pandemic “helped” me make that choice. Meeting online enabled Leslie and I to keep inspiring each other and making clear progress.

I wish for every creative person the time-freedom to set creative priorities in 2023. Stick with your project — and leave a comment telling me what it is. I’d love to hear about it.