What There Is to Be Done: Chapters 8-13 (The End!)

by Dan Masterton

I have a much easier time moving efficiently and quickly than I do with pumping the brakes and really trying to do a slow, careful job. This quality does not come in handy when I am doing the dishes or mowing the lawn. It does come in handy when I write.

There are certainly times where I could stand to brainstorm and outline and draft and redraft more than I do, and there have been times when I've settled myself to that different pace. Most often, though, I usually have the ability to get thoughts and reflections to words pretty smoothly and efficiently. I rarely find myself at a loss for turning the ideas that pinball around into words. The blank page and flashing cursor can intimidate, but I can usually overwhelm the void in short order.

So when I decided to try out creative writing for the first time since school years, this again came in handy. I dug into the fine resources from National Novel Writing Month, picked out a couple great aids, and got to work sketching out some ideas. Following the old "write what you know" adage, the arc of a young adult discerning life while working in a Catholic high school took basic shape. Then I began a weeks-long, 50,000-word free write and the details and connections filled in.

I think, some day, I might be more inclined to chase down more of a masterpiece of writing. I've got handfuls of unfinished drafts, bullet-pointed lists of notes, and other stray ideas that I've never done anything with. For whatever reasons, since I started writing regularly in college, I'm just more inclined to put fingers to keyboard and get going.

Whatever its limitations or shortcomings, this impulse has kept me writing pretty consistently for twelve years. And while the quality or relevance of what I've done is certainly subjective and impossible to pin down fully, I hope the way I keep showing up matches me up with readers who are seeking something that might make them think or reflect.

This time, it's a fiction story in thirteen chapters and 55,000 words. It's a paperback and an audiobook podcast:

It's all done. It's faithful and earnest but imperfect. And like me, and my writing for years, it continues to show up. I'd say it probably won't win any awards, but it'd be worthy of purchase for your nightstand reading stack or as a podcast to download to your phone for your next travel day, road trip, or waiting room stint. Let me know what you think! I'll be here, like always.