"Everything has to come to an end, sometime." —L. Frank Baum
For the past few months, I've been undergoing a renovation on part of my home.
I've gotten used to living with chaos—rooms filled with displaced furniture, workers coming in and out, no place to take a zoom call—so much so that I've forgotten what it was like to have those two extra rooms that are now a construction zone.
But yesterday, something happened: they finished.
And now I have more space than I had before. Not only will I be able to reclaim the rooms that I've lost; I've gained a whole new room and bathroom. For a long time, my living situation was much worse and I forgot what it was like to feel comfortably in my own home. And then, overnight, it was just what I wanted, and better than it ever was.
When I'm working on a novel, there is always a moment at which I feel as if I'm living in chaos.
The long slog through the first draft can be so discouraging that I wonder if the project will ever come together. But then, suddenly—and almost always surprisingly—it does.
This is part of why I love writing in Bookflow. The goal tracker lets me know where I am in the process and helps me remember that every moment I spend writing is bringing me closer to where I want to be.
If you're in the midst of a long-term project, whatever it may be, remember that the end comes suddenly. One day, you'll look up and realize that you're almost there. And then, before you know it, it will be finished.
And it will be time to begin again.