"Sunset" è finito.

I finished the first draft of my short story-turned-novella “Sunset” late last night. I lazily wrote the initial first paragraph back in April and intended the story to be a neat and tidy little short story. While I was busy with the end of the school year, I could only occasionally revisit it. Once my summer vacation started and I was able to focus on the piece, I was hooked. There were a lot of moments of struggle, including yesterday where I backtracked the same three pages twice. Then, about 10:30 last night, I realized I was within a few pages of finishing the story.

The ending snuck up on me and when I made the realization that the end was near, I wasn’t scared like I had been a couple weeks earlier when I struggled with some writer’s block brought on by the anticipation of finishing the story. (At that point I was just looking at a real short story instead of the lengthier story “Sunset” turned into.) Instead of being scared, I was excited and using the rush of adrenaline, I pushed forth and finished it a little more than an hour later.

Now, I am not a naïve writer. I know this is just a very small ‘win’ on this story’s journey. Draft 1.4 is completed but now comes the much harder part – revising. Since the story evolved quickly as the length increased, I need to align certain character histories and story plots. I began keeping a list of changes as I wrote and I will begin working on that list after I sit down and reread the 57 page piece from start to finish. And, of course, I must turn into a Grammar Nazi also. Typos beware!

My initial goal, when “Sunset” was supposed to be an eight to ten page story, was to have it polished and ready for the arduous task of submission by the end of the summer. I could then focus on syllabi and lesson plans and gearing up for teenage angst. I could spend my free time during the school year writing, of course, but also submitting the story and eagerly waiting for the rejection letters. Now, with the story being almost six times as long as I intended, my goal now is to have a pretty solid second draft completed by the end of the summer.

When I finished the story last night, I had the oddest feeling – numb excitement. “Sunset” has been the longest usable piece I’d finished in a long damn time and all of a sudden I was done. I wandered about the apartment for a good ten minutes in this numb excitement. I had accomplished something that I hadn’t done in a very long time and it felt really, really good. The numbness wore off and then I was wound up like a kid on Christmas but I was happy.

I was still happy and filled with a feeling I’m not sure how to describe when I woke up way too early this morning. If I could bottle up the feeling I have right now, I’d tuck it away some place safe to be used during one of my bad days. This feeling was completely unexpected but I am not going to question it; I’m just going to enjoy it for as long as it lasts.