A Writer's Best Feeling

What a fine day it is, Esteemed Reader. As I write this, the world outside is a frozen landscape of things quiet and dead. I have a pile of snotty tissues beside me and I'm hacking my head off every few moments. My vision is blurred, I have no strength, and my brain is as fuzzy as a simile I'm too sick to bother thinking up.

And I just can't stop smiling.

Why, you ask? Because I've just really, honest and for true, really finished my new manuscript. I've gone through it top to bottom and made all my changes. I've rewritten the ending until it's just the way I want it. It is whole and complete. I could get hit by a bus later and my story could still be picked up and read without trailing off somewhere.

In a moment, I'm going to send my finished darling off to my writer's group and they are going to find all its faults and point out all the things I still need to rewrite, but don't let's think about that now. Let's not think about the changes my agent may request or revisions editors may suggest. Let's not think about how I'm going to be rereading this same book over and over again for the next year.

Today, I'm taking a moment to savor that feeling of accomplishment, that moment of clarity that comes as you gaze out over the horizon at your feet, having climbed the mountain without falling off. My child has been raised and will soon be sent out to the world and I am so, so proud.

I'm never quite sure what my favorite part of writing is. Is it that rush that comes with a big idea and the first few eager pages of a new story? Is it that moment when you realize the solution to a story problem after hours of banging your head against the desk? Is it when your ideal reader smiles after reading your story and you know it had precisely the impact you hoped it would?

They're all great moments and they're why I do what I do. I'll be starting a new book soon and I'll be back to banging my head, but today is a good day. What's your favorite part of being a writer?