Victory

Three years, three notebooks, three parts, twenty-eight chapters, sixty-eight characters, numerous pens, and uncountable periods of writer's block, spontaneous inspiration, and late night writing sessions and I have finally finished my book.

Feel free to applaud at any time.

Yes, Ladies and Gents, c'est vrai. Uritus and the Sword of Fire was finished this morning at 4:44 am. I pulled one of those all-nighter-writing-session-I've-been-working-on-this-book-for-three-years-and-I-want-to-finish-it thingys last night. I wrote chapters twenty-five through twenty-eight as well as an epilogue.

And. I. Am. So. Flipping. Happy.

It's one of those feelings that any artist can relate to. It's when a painter finally gazes upon the portrait she's been trying to finish forever. Or when a musician hits the note he's been trying to hit for the longest time. It's hitting a home run and taking a final bow and throwing the winning touchdown all at the same time. I can't even begin to describe how good it feels.

Last night feels like a dream. I remember watching Clash of the Titans with my dad then taking a shower and pulling out the third notebook that hadn't been written in yet. I prayed that God would give me just enough stamina and inspiration to survive and be done. In my heart I knew. The book would end that night.

Technically it ended the next morning as the birds awoke. I shut the notebook, capped my pen, and squealed. You know that feeling you get when you accomplish something you've worked so hard at and you just have to tell somebody? That's how I felt. But at 4:44 in the morning, I had no one to tell.

So I spread the pages out before my Designer and prayed that even if the book doesn't go anywhere farther than my bedroom walls, it will be used for His glory. I opened my curtain and let the sunrise spill onto my bed as my head, weary and spent, hit the pillow. I fell asleep at five. I burst forth into the world at nine, declaring the victory I had over the thing I've been battling since spring break of my seventh grade year.

Now, the summer before my junior year of high school, I reign supreme. I have proven not only to the world but also to myself that I can do anything I set my mind on. Even if everyone else thinks I'm totally insane for doing so. I remained strong. I kept the faith. I held on till sunrise. And the victory is so much sweeter because of the struggle that went with it.

I know, there is still much more to be done. I have to edit it, type up a manuscript, and send it off to my publisher and ask if he's still interested in it. But that doesn't phase me.

I finished the freaking book and I am on top of the world because of it.

I'm going to go crack open Celtx and attempt to type this thing up. I'll give you an excerpt soon enough. But for now, I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from the book. The one that I have chosen to define the rest of my life.

"People so often associate the word 'courage' with the word 'fearless' while in reality no one is fearless. Everyone is afraid of something, no matter what it is. But courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is the ability to look fear straight in the face and say, 'You don't own me.'" ~Uritus