CONCLUSIONS

Last weekend I finished the writing of a short novel--possibly a novella, due to its shorter word count. Anyway, I finished it. It is now considered a Very Rough Rough Draft. Early parts of it were written on the computer; the last half was handwritten. Thus only part of it is in manuscript form, which means it is typewritten and easier to read.

The most important aspect for me is: It is completely finished.

It can now safely be put in a drawer--or box--or filing cabinet--or under the bed--and left to chill. I won't look at it again for a while--anywhere from a month to a year. All depending on how courageous I'm feeling. (Rough drafts give me the willies. They're always worse than I thought they were when I put them away.)

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Finishing that manuscript means I came to a conclusion. That activity is over and done with for the time being. If, sometime in the future when I feel my courage increasing, I can actually tolerate reading it again and encountering its imperfections, I can make a new start.

That's what conclusions lead to--new beginnings.

In the case of a piece of writing, the new start can be with the same material--just looking at it with distance and eyes that haven't focused on it recently can call up a "Holy Moley! That's better than I thought." It's equally possible the Holy Moley will be followed by "Oh, wow, how bad is that?"

Another new start can be with a totally different piece: another story--a memoir--a poem or two or three--letters owed to several people who got shoved aside by the Very Rough Rough Draft. 

And now that I'm painting watercolors fairly often, I can abandon the pen and computer for paints and brushes. That's a really new start.

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The main things I've learned about Conclusions are these:

• No conclusion is the final event, even for the project/activity it defines.
• Conclusions are always followed by something else--a new beginning, a different avenue of thought, a change in philosophy.
• Many conclusions are of the thought variety; and when new evidence comes along, our minds can change. So, too, the conclusions we come to based on that new evidence.

Basically, a Conclusion--whether an ending or a summing up of deliberations--is part of the ebb and flow of life--we make conclusions every single day, probably many times a day.

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Back in the Day, we were taught to use a three-part structure for written work and speeches:

• Tell them what you're going to tell them.
• Tell them.
• Tell them what you told them.

(I kid you not. Fortunately, I managed to escape that advice by having creative teachers who knew how deadly that whole scenario could be.) 

Those of us listening to a speaker using that formula learned to listen for the magic phrase, "And in conclusion . . . ." That was our signal to sit up, look as if we'd paid attention all the way through, and get ready to move on to the next event.

If you're still awake, here's some advice: Don't sweat the Conclusions business. Remember, it's all about ebb and flow. There'll be changes coming, but that's sometimes a really good thing.

Wishing you interesting times and joyful days!

Blessings,

Thursday's Child