Got a voice mail from my sister H. last night. She has been pressuring me for the last six months to finish the manuscript for a middle-reader chapter book that needs a few finishing touches. The publisher wants me to simplify the language in places, draw out the action a little more in the climactic scene (by piling more misery on my characters), and remove some foreign words and change some names for reading ease. No big deal, right?
Apparently not. I just can't seem to do it. H. says it's critical that I finish this, that I need to be "in the habit of finishing things." Hey! I've finished plenty of things. I finished the PhD (very useful, that; I jest). Published an academic book with IUP. I finish most things, I'll have you know. Just not this one thing...
So what's the hold-up? Am I so attached to the current version that I can't bear to mess with it? No, I don't think so, although I've been there before. Revising can be like cutting off digits. Ouch. I think it's more that I've moved on; I'm ready for the next challenge; I'm focused on other things now. Why would I want to go backwards? It's like the orchid thief from Adaptation: "Done with fish."
H. says that's not good enough. Secretly (not so secretly), I know she's right. What's it going to take for me to spend half-a-measly-day on this and be done with it?
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