Writing and Pudding
Late Wednesday evening I finished the second draft of A CUP OF DUST. How do I feel? Well. I feel like I still have some work to do.
I’ve made a list of things that need to be fixed within the plot, a character who needs to be eliminated (as in, I have to make it like he never existed in the first place…oh, the power!), I need to iron out the narrative voice to make sure it’s consistent, and…well…so much more.
I’ve got my purple pens. The novel is printed and in a storage tote (seriously, it won’t fit in a file folder). My brain is making circles around the story.
But I’m not going to touch it today. At least that’s the goal.
What? Why?
Because I need to let it set.
Think of it this way. You want pudding. Not the stuff in the little cups from the store. You want REAL pudding. The kind made with cold milk. The kind you whisk for 2 minutes.
The kind of pudding that makes you pretend to be Bill Cosby for a minute.
If you were to mix up your pudding and right away start spooning it into your mouth it would be…well…pudding broth. It needs time to set up. To thicken. To be right.
Mercy, it’s hard to wait for the pudding to be ready. Right? It’s also hard for me to resist messing with my manuscript. I want to get back at it.
With Paint Chips, I put it aside for about 31 days (remember when I wrote all those short stories? That was crazy). With My Mother’s Chamomile I didn’t have time! I was on a deadline.
This time, everything is different. I don’t have a publisher for it (yet…my awesome agent is working on it). I’m more knowledgable as an author about what works and what doesn’t and how to fix it. And, soon, I’ll have PLENTY of writing time (school is coming). I don’t know how long I’ll let it chill before digging in.
For now, to keep from touching it, I’m going to do some laundry and dishes. Maybe I’ll even dust.
Hm. And I think I’ll make some pudding.
susiefinkbeiner.com 
I remember when I was little and mom made pudding, we would sneak into the fridge and steal a spoonful out before it was set. Great analogy! It is so hard to let that manuscript set, but it always gives us better perspective!
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It. Is. Killing me, Suzy! But it will be worth it later on…
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