PECKING AWAY

The old, white birch in my Backyard Bowl received some new holes today. A pileated woodpecker drilled through its rotting bark, up and down and around and around, for beetles and bugs. I enjoyed watching him peck away with efficiency and precision.

I’ve been pecking away at my second book, “Trouble at Fish Camp,” for almost two years, to get the bugs out. Unlike the woodpecker, I’ve started and stopped, unsure of my words and phrases. After writing the entire book, for instance, I decided to change the point of view. That meant rewriting the entire manuscript. How daunting a task! But it’s finally finished—almost. Three more days of polishing and I’ll send it off.

I may not have rewritten the book with efficiency and precision, but I did stick to it. There’s something to be said for persistence and perseverance. It pays off in the end.

Already my head is filled with scenes for the third book in my Ways of the Williwaw series. I’ll peck away one scene at a time and be watchful for those pesky bugs that I can drill out, hopefully with more efficiency and precision this time around.

How are you pecking away at your writing project—by fits and starts, or with efficiency and precision?