It's a Book! and Other Epiphanies

I feel like I should knock on wood before saying this: E's back at school today, which means my muse and I have the house to ourselves.

On tap for today: Serious butt-in-chair time.

Specifically: continuing the hard work of stitching together and revising the best scenes from the many versions of my fantasy novel, and finally "writing" the story through to the end.

Goosebumps moment of excitement. Breathing slowly, deeply. In. Out.

My classmates and advisors talked about this point in their writing process. I listened with awe and envy when they did.

How had they come to that place? I wondered. How many drafts did they write before they knew their characters well enough to write their story to the end? Did they begin with a living, breathing character--one they knew inside and out? An outline? Both? If they wrote like I did--following a whisper, a bit of dialogue, a feeling, an image--how many versions of a novel did they write--and toss--until they knew they'd written through to an ending that felt right and true for the story that needed to be told?

What I know is this: A shift has taken place. I'm ready. The story's ready. The character's are ready. I'm convinced I now know enough to write the story through to its true end. Even more exciting, I finally know I know my story well enough to do so.

Curious that nine months after graduation--in the time it takes to grow a baby--I finally get it.