What Finishing A Novel Feels Like!

12 days at a remote location was just what I needed to cross the finish line...

I just spent 12 days at PLAYA Art & Science Residency as an awarded resident alongside an incredibly talented cohort of visual artists, scientists, and writers. I had applied 8 months prior, having no idea where I’d be with my novel. Turns out, the timing was perfect. My goal for these 12 days was to finish my novel.

Specifically, this meant incorporating comments I’d received from early readers in the Wá∙šiw (Washoe) community and from other writers, fixing timeline issues, and writing the final scenes for major characters.

That’s me, PLAYA’s campus, and Summer Lake in the background.

Here’s how it actually went (taken from the daily log I kept during my stay in cabin #8):

Day 1: Two muskrats cross the pond, breaking the silvery still water. Epic orange sunrise.  

Day 2: Ran up the Punch Bowl past scattered sun-bleached bones of something very large. Cow probably—or T-rex. Getting my head slowly back into my project. Coyotes cackle across the pond every night so far.

Day 3: This place is incredible. No distractions except the intense beauty of place. The colors of winter here are soft yellows and blues.

Day 4: Seven red-breasted robins flit outside the window between roof and tree like puffs of dead flowers.

Day 5: Things I’ve learned: I do not eat consistently when my partner is not around.

Day 6: Writing today was like trudging through mud—which I also did on the playa. Mostly talking to myself, solo dancing, getting my ya-yas out, screaming into the ripping wind. Then finally, 3pm I’m starting to make progress.

Day 7: Hiked up the Punch Bowl with David and Daniel. Left at 10am, returned at 2pm. Good day to stretch the legs. Snow flurries on top, saw two deer, great conversation. Revitalized to work hard all afternoon till 9pm.

Days 8-11: Crushing work. So much so that I forgot to write in here. Made clear daily goals and just crushed it. If writing were weight lifting, I just PRd. [Yes, I actually wrote that]. Took a while, but I just typed what could be the last scenes of my hopefully now completed novel!

Day 12: Packing, cleaning, celebrating. Thanks to PLAYA for this time and space. Thanks to Summer Lake for being ever-changing, always interesting. Great group of artists. I feel so full, grateful, and lucky.

YOU should apply! If you’re an artist, scientist, musician, or person who needs time to focus on any type of creative project, PLAYA’s application window for 2025 awarded residencies is open through May 30, 2024. I'm happy to answer questions about my experience. Just leave a comment below.

Cabin #8 at PLAYA where I ate, worked, slept, repeated for 12 gloriously long days.

What Does “Finished” Really Mean?!

For me, this means my novel is finally at a point where I’m ready to query agents. If anyone replies with, “Yes, let me read more!” I can confidently send a truly complete manuscript. This is what people mean when they say, “Get your book as close to finished as possible before you query.”

How Does It Feel?

Amazing! And real. Over the past several years, I’ve said many, many times, “I’m going to finish my novel.” And each time I meant it, but this time, it’s actually happened. I honestly feel deeply relieved. It feels like a weight has been lifted (yes, that very cliché weight). It feels like I’m ready for next steps. Whatever happens now, I am proud of the work, research, self-reflection, learning, and 15-years of effort I’ve dedicated to this novel.

When Can I Read It?

Why thank you for asking! What happens next is I will try to find an agent—the person who will help me sell this book to a publisher. Once a publisher picks it up, there will be an editing process, book design, some other stuff I don’t know about yet, then a launch date. From what I understand, all that could take anywhere from one to two years. (Crazy, I know.)

Meanwhile, THANK YOU for supporting my writing, for sending me encouraging words, and for asking to read my novel! Your hopefulness is seriously keeping me afloat. The prospect of sending something like this out into the world is scary, but perhaps that’s when a writer knows when she’s finished. When it’s no longer scary. I am finally ready to share this book with the world, and I plan to pursue the traditional publishing route first.

Without TV, internet, or any other distractions in my cabin, I spent downtime hiking, listening to music, and puzzling.

Writing Book Extras: Front Matter, Back Matter

While I pitch agents, trying to convince someone to love this project as much as I do, I will continue to tinker with langauge and make sure every sentence has reached its full potential (aka perfection). I’ll also be writing what they call front and back matter: things like an Author’s Note, Acknowledgments, Glossary of Terms, Resource Lists, and book summaries of various lengths and styles that can be used for marketing.

And This Newsletter…

Now that my BOOK IS FINISHED! I’m hoping to have a little more bandwidth to share more details about Lake Tahoe’s history, my research, and my writing journey with you here. Of course, I will also keep you posted on my publishing progress via this monthly newsletter. And if there’s ever a topic you think I should write about, I’m always open to suggestions.

Did I Celebrate?

Heck yes! The moment I finished, I told my husband, who has heard me say “I’m going to finish my novel” many, many, many times. When I got home, there was a note on the counter saying, “Welcome home and congratulations! Reservations at 7pm tonight.” Nearly 10 years ago when we met, we agreed that when I finished my novel he would buy me a steak dinner. And he did.

Hundreds of cattle sauntered down Highway 31 one day, distracting me from my work and inspiring me to finally type “The End.”