I’m making progress in my clean-up before Caring Lessons comes out. To encourage you writers that an end can be in sight, here’s a stack of eight drafts that I printed off of my book (thousands of pages went into recycle along the way) and three five-subject spiral notebooks that I used to chronicle every decision, many drafts, and any other scribble to keep my thoughts in one place. On top, a picture of the cover of my upcoming book stands triumphant.

This system has worked well for me. Maybe it would for you too. Another perspective:

My husband just walked in and asked what I was doing. Non-writers maybe just don’t understand! Stacking or lining up ten years of work for a photo session is one way to see accomplishment. He thinks I’m now ready to throw all these books away. No way. I’ve found they fit neatly in a file drawer. Stacked crosswise.