Finishing

Finished the short story.  Other than how it started I had no idea where it was going.

I'm neither an outliner nor a seat-of-the-panters.  Typically I shape a story, jotting down notes, key points, questions the story should answer and what not.  I may not always know how it's going to end but I have a pretty good idea of how it's getting there.

Not this time.  I promised myself I'd write every day, and so I did.  Beyond an extremely vague idea for a character I had no clue where things were going.  The story takes two sharp turns that make sense now but surprised me at the time.

Writing the story reminded me of spinning in the car because it hit a sheet of ice.  Not that it went quickly.  I just wanted to stop.

So I did what Neil Gaiman said. I finished.  I did what Dean Wesley Smith said.  I wrote the next line.

Is it good?  I hope so.  Maybe.  The important thing is I finished it and submitted it.  I learned I could write a story even when the writing doesn't flow out of me.  And I learned actually writing.

It feels good.