Draft #5 means only that there were enough changes made to Draft #4 (and on backward) to warrant a completely new draft number. But this is it. I must move on.
Interesting too that in Lonnie’s post today entitled Letting Go she speaks of the difficulty in letting go of characters. But she refers to different portions of the process. In one, she mentions letting the characters do their own thing, go their own way regardless of what she would like to have happen. This is an essential part of writing because otherwise, we limit them to our own experience and expectations. She also covers the decision to go ahead and let something bad happen to a favorite character. This is tough too; not knowing for sure if they will recover. They will be changed–but for the good or bad?
But there’s a third step to be taken here as well: that when the story’s done, it leaves your head. Yolanda’s gone, and now too, this mid-life crisised wife and mother is on her way out the door.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology