Even first drafts have multiple draft, but tonight I completed the first draft of the first draft of the pending novel of colonial history, football, and fungal horror entitled WAKE, ME. It’s harder work (and immensely rewarding) to revise and edit and consult critique partners and editors and other thoughtful readers and see a manuscript through to a book, but the purest pleasure is just the satisfaction of saying, “There — it’s done. I wrote a novel.”
And I’m doing that right now, and watching speed skating. It’s interesting because although you know these guys are going super fast, it’s so quiet and peaceful looking, like they are just gliding along for the joy of it and don’t care when they get there.