You may have heard me mention my “upcoming debut novel” a time or two.
Or three or four.
Or enough to think, “Enough already! Just publish the thing!”
Hey, I’m with you.
I’ve been working on various iterations of Final Moment and in varying levels of focus ranging from quite-intense-to-not-at-all since 2008.
Obviously, I feel it’s a story God put on my heart, or I would’ve given up long ago.
But that’s certainly not the case.
Instead, I’m more committed than ever to seeing Final Moment finally show up in print.
And that’s going to happen as soon as I determine next-best steps for publishing.
When Perfectionism Holds Us Back
Publication will also happen when I stop treating my manuscript like that kindergartner on the first day.
You know, the one whose precious hand you hate to release.
Whose ponytail you have to fix just one more time.
And lunchbox you need to recheck to make sure you packed all her favorite snacks.
Whose little face you have to scan for smudges that must be removed with a lick of your thumb.
And classroom you eye suspiciously to assess whether the other kids will play nice.
Certainly, Final Moment isn’t the same as a tender child.
But since I’ve been nurturing it for so long, I find myself doing the same kind of over-protective, hand-wringing things where my debut work is concerned.
While that may be helpful in some ways—like making sure the manuscript is in its best shape—that kind of hovering and hesitation can lead to even further delays in letting it go, and stifle the impact God wants it to have when it finally gets released into the wild.
As a project manager recently said to a small team I was engaged with—when we kept going back and forth to fix little things—”Don’t let perfection get in the way of completion.”
And Fear Gets in the Way
Another dynamic involved when it comes to something that’s part of your heart—is fear.
Fear of being vulnerable as you let others see what you can or cannot do.
Fear of rejection if readers don’t like either the writing itself or the content it contains.
Fear that the dream you’ve had all these years may not turn out as you’d hoped.
But that’s the part where we have to trust God.
For His power in all we do as we seek to do it with Him, instead of on our own.
For His plans to touch the lives He specifically intends, instead of the audiences we define for ourselves.
For His unconditional love that reminds us that no matter what others may think, He holds us in His loving embrace because we are precious to Him.
Moving Forward
All those things are good reminders for me as I seek to move forward—and I hope they are for you, too.
If you have a dream you’re stifling with perfectionism or hovering over with fear, ask God to help you with that.
To move forward in whatever way He reveals to you.
One way I believe I’m supposed to do that is through an exciting thing I did yesterday—which was to enroll in Author Media’s Book Launch Blueprint course. 🙂
Because while it will be wonderful to see Final Moment in print, I know that publication is only the beginning of all the hard work needed to successfully launch and market it from there.
That’s why I’m so excited about all that’s ahead in the intense instruction and mentoring of the next four weeks!
A friend who took it last year highly recommended it, as have all the other alumni who are attending again this year for free.
I’m looking forward to diving in!
This post is adapted from Sue’s Perspectives column in the latest edition of The Empowered Traveler™ Newsletter. If you’re not already a subscriber, you can do that here: Subscribe to Sue’s newsletter.