Halfway There

"When you've flown as far as you can, you're halfway there."*

I am dead smack in the middle of my WIP--the halfway point. I love my story, and my characters. But being in the middle is simply awful. It's scary. It's like weaving a huge tapestry and realizing that some of the hundreds of threads I'm sliding through my fingers are the wrong color, or in the wrong place. It's that point in the story where I just have to forge ahead and overlook the flaws in the pattern, get to the end, and then go back and, with heartless precision, snip those threads that don't fit in.

But what if I pull out that glittery gold thread right over there (the one I took such pleasure in weaving) and the whole thing unravels and ends up in a tangled, senseless pile at my feet? Worse, what if I don't pull it out? It could be a blot on the landscape I've woven, an ugly scar that every eye will fixate upon, detracting from anything else I've managed to depict.

In the end, I'll rely upon the golden rule of both needlework and writing--be ruthless. I've stitched many things, including a wall-sized rug, and have had to tear out thousands of stitches in the process--so many that I could make a bed quilt out of them big enough to suffocate beneath. That's just how it goes when you do needlework.

Cutting those threads is not the hardest part for me. It's making it to the end. To do that, I need to keep flying and not look back. I can't think about how far I've come and how far I have left to go. But I often feel as if I've flown as far as I can, which is why I need my critique group--they keep me going, assure me that my goal isn't as far off as it seems, cheer me on and bolster me. No, I won't say they are the wind beneath my wings, although it's SO tempting. Oh, I just said it. Sorry. But it's true.

Quote and photo are from Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'hoole, which I can't wait to see. The photo is simply blatant cuteness and has nothing whatever to do with this post.