Progress Report: HELP! I’m Giving Birth to a 92,000 Word Manuscript!
(Picture from Flickr, Tatiana Vdb)
Last week I dreamed I had this bulging belly. When I realized I wasn’t fat, just pregnant, I thought, good, now I can eat all of the Doritos I want! Now why I would chose Doritos as my food of choice, I don’t know. I’m much more of a chocolate addict. In the summer my food of choice would be ice cream, preferably loaded with hot fudge or fresh berries. I like Doritos, but rarely eat them. Like potato chips, I can’t eat just one so I’m better off not eating them at all.
I figured that the pregnancy related to my current work-in-progress. I have had dreams in the past about being pregnant or having a baby when I’m working on a book. In the dream I was huge, just like when pregnant with my twin daughters. Then I was comparable to a beached whale. In the dream I was almost ready to pop. As I’ve been writing this week, I recognize that I am close to finishing my first draft. Seems my unconscious last week knew something I didn’t.
How did I get this far so fast? This book has been in the works for most of my life. It contains pieces of writing collected and compiled from my youth, revisited and reformulated over the years and now being put into an entirely new framework. That original work was 79,000 words, which is how I’ve already got 92,000 words, longer than all of my other manuscripts. I’ve already cut 4,000 words from the original manuscript and expect to cut a lot more once I have the framework complete.
So, this week I’m into the final labor pains before giving birth to my first draft. After that I will be ready to start the work of editing, my least favorite part of the process (I will need lots of ice cream to get me through this.)
As part of my labor pains, writing is going slower this week. My hair is pulled up in a ragged pony tail. I’m looking pretty sloppy and treating myself to lattes. I’ve had to stop at times and take a break because of feeling sad for my main character and her situation. Guess I just have to bear down and get through it.
What about you? Have you ever had dreams about being pregnant while working on a book? Have you found yourself having to take a break because of being so emotionally involved with your characters? What do you think the Doritos represent in my dream?
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