So it’s May 4th. As any Star Wars fan will tell you, this is Star Wars Day. Why? Because…well…MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU! Get it? Get it? “Fourth” instead of “Force.”
Clever!
I love Star Wars. I’m not sure why, but it probably has to do with the whole “out of nothing, a great one rises” hero’s journey archetype thing and all that jazziness. There’s something exhilirating about a (spolier alert) hero who rises (literally) from the dust of his home planet to take on the scourge of the Empire.
You can actually see that saga continued in the new Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens. I did. Twice. In the theater.
Anyway, I just wanted to give a piece of advice on this Star Wars Day 2016: never stop writing. That’s a common theme on this blog, because I am well aware of the doldrums that can hit when we are working on a new book. We start. We write. We ramble along. And then, somewhere in the mix, we have the tendency to put the whole thing in a drawer and forget about it. We lose the force, as it were.
But on this day, we say, “May the 4th be with you.” And you know what? Today, we can take that to mean that it’s the fourth draft that will be the key. I know, I know, it’s a stretch, but as with any religious holiday, we have to go beyond the obvious trappings and find the deep meaning.
I edited my first book over 15 times (with two readers). The second? Probably almost 20 edits (with four readers). It was probably more. A lot more. But I’ll be conservative. Each edit gets the juices flowing in new and exciting directions. Each edit got me past a problem or insecurity. Each edit a new saga. Each tweak a new way to connect with the writing force that’s a part of each of us.
So today, on Star Wars day, fight the good fight against the dark forces of procrastination. Fight the Darth Vader in your head that tells you you’ll “never” or you “can’t.” Resurrect a draft from the ashes and take on the empire of writer’s block. Be the author who rises from the ashes and finds greatness!
At least until that next edit comes along.
In the meantime, live long and…oh, wait…right…
May the 4th be with you.