The more times I near the finishline, the more times I see the journey of a story.

Starting is always difficult, with so many ideas in your head and so many directions you can.

Sustaining the story is even more difficult, trying to keep the ideas and the inspiration fresh.

The middle-point of the story is the most difficult, trying to keep the story exciting and trying to keep yourself engaged.

But with anything, as you near the finish line, there is a sense of euphoria.

It becomes easier to write. The fingers type faster. The story comes together. Characters are known and act out accordingly. Final secrets come out. Final conversations are held. The characters move and hopefully you as an author are moved with them.

I don’t know how many novels I’ve finished. That’s not me bragging, not at all. I just simply don’t know. I think it might be close to forty now. And more and more, as the ending nears, I become wrapped up in nothing else except this story.

I put chunks of me, for better or worse, in it.

I somehow am able to have closure, just like the characters.

I am also utterly unfulfilled, again like the characters.

I don’t want the story to end, but it must.

The beauty in writing is the creating, the journey itself. What I wouldn’t give to have to worry only about that and not about the marketing and the selling and the financial end of writing. But that’s part of the deal.

But right now, I’m nearing the finish. Will readers read this story? We’ll see. I think it’s lovely and moving. It’s a love letter to my daughter. That alone is worth writing it. But I think many, many people can relate to this story.

The journey is everything. And every journey is another chance to get it right.

(Photo by Brennan Burling on Unsplash & Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash)