The Journey

Quint was under way and Tellus was in full bloom. I had my ideas, a direction, a purpose. And I began writing.

If you read my previous blogs, then you'll remember that my goal was to write a short story. I went past my goal of 30,000 words and created a new goal: 60,000 words. And again I went past that and gave up on a target word goal altogether. Well, that may be a little misleading.

Getting to 30,000 words wasn't easy. It came with its ups and downs, backs and forths. I fought with myself a lot. And there were plenty of times I didn't think I was going to make it.

Making it to 60,000 words was even harder. Had I created too much story but not enough at the same time? I'm in the middle of no man's land where it's too long to be a short story but to short to be a novel. Maybe I should just edit it down and go with my original idea of a short story. But then it would just feel flat. And there is a lot being left out that I know about, that is important to Quint's quest, and I'm pretty sure my readers will feel it too.

I stuck with it. Often times not putting pen to paper – or fingers to keys – for days, sometimes even weeks. I would be stuck in my head, trying to figure out a solution to Quint's current dilemma. Writer's Block is real, people. And most of the time, all I had to do was get out of my head. Talk it out, or just forget about it altogether, and the solution would find me.

And then 60,000 words passed and I still felt no closer to completion than when I was at 30,000. This is just getting daunting. The lows were terrible. I'd get nearly depressed thinking that I would never finish what I've worked so hard on for so long. I would get so bad, sometimes, that I wouldn't want to get out of bed. I was so disgusted that I didn't ever want to think about Quint or Tellus again.

But the highs were so much higher. Quint would take an unexpected path, say something I never even thought he would or could. My story would offer up a dark secret of Tellus that even I never knew about. And I was back. I would be pushing out words faster than before. Excited for the journey I was on and even more so to see how Quint's would end.

And then, one day, about two years after I began, it ended. Quint's (initial) journey was over. I felt a sense of accomplishment, but at the same time sad. It was like I helped a friend though a tough time but knowing that we would no longer be friends. Is there more I can do? Can I make it longer? Can I make it two books?

It was over. I wanted to quit many times though this journey, and now that it has naturally run its course, I wished there was more. I wished it didn't have to end. I wished there was more to say.