August 15 or Bust!

Okay, I’ve gone and done it. I’ve set a deadline of AUGUST 15 for finishing my short story collection. It has been three years in the making–actually, I wrote the first draft of one of the stories in 2003, so maybe more like seven years—and countless bloods, (night) sweats, and tears. And I feel that if I don’t set a deadline for having the damn thing done, it will never get there, and that, my friends, is not an option.

My fabulous friend Katie McCleary recently set up a “The Commaraderie Writer’s Summer Challenge” to encourage a group of us to keep going, and that has helped. There is something about having community, about knowing that others are working towards the same goal, that keeps me going when I want to give up the ghost.

I’m also doing Monday through Thursday check-ins with a friend, who is also working to complete a working draft of a long-term project. I forgot to check-in this past Thursday, but will return to the project with renewed conviction on Monday.

It is a joy to jump in headfirst to these stories. I must remind myself that this isn’t a chore, this isn’t pulling teeth. It is slightly wonderful to work so hard at giving life and energy to these characters who have lived in my mind for so many years. I stumbled upon this tattoo of the “Fox-Head Girl,” by Santa Rosa-based tattoo artist Jared Powell (he created the logo for Petals and Bones, the writing workshops I’m doing with another friend in Santa Rosa) and I feel like this picture encapsulates some energy from the stories I’m conjuring.  Cover art, perhaps?

Do you have a project that you’ve been dying to finish, but unable to see to fruition? What kind of support do you need to make it happen? What bag of tricks have you used to scoot it across the finish line?