Deadlines and Finish Lines

Some things take time. Some things take a long, long, long time. Sometimes those things just need deadlines so they get done. I [Mark] am getting to the end of one of those projects right now.

The novel I'm working on was started back in 1985. The first draft was completed in 1990. Yeah, that was 23 years ago!

I'm currently rewriting it based on comments and feedback I've gotten from people over the years--the same wonderful people who kept saying: "So are you gonna PUBLISH that thing??" Characters have changed, some of them dramatically, some of them simply blinked into non-existence. Whole chapters have been excised or replaced. Plot points and story lines have been reconsidered and summarily abandoned. Language has been simplified (thank goodness!). Even spellings of people's names have changed to be more easily read or pronounced. The title has changed three, no, four times--it's currently "The Midnight Stone." I've drawn pages and pages of concept art: character studies, scene studies, environments, monsters and architecture.

Here's the plan: I finish the rewriting by August 29th. I have to get this novel in submittable shape by then. That's my self-imposed goal. Why August 29th? Well, it was a random date that seemed just a little too close, but mostly just because it's a deadline. It gives me a finish line I can see.

It's been a long haul and there's a LOT to rewrite, even though I'm down to the last 1/5th of it. To keep me straight, I've laid out the positions of people at various times. Here's one version of it.

Wish me luck! (Click on the image to see it full size.)