hitting a writing milestone

I can relax now that I've passed on draft 0 of my developing journal article. It's now with my co-author and its amazing how the relief of reaching this kind of writing milestone makes itself present in your body, your mind. Last week was particularly tense. I was struggling to articulate my thoughts in writing, while also grappling with the theoretical concepts central to my argument. I was behind schedule and the self-critic inside me was having a wonderful time. And spring was showing itself in all its glory, which coupled with some more public holidays just before the weekend (yes I'm very sure Sweden has more public holidays than South Africa!) pushed my anxiety levels beyond the 'productive' level those 'motivational gurus' always seem to be making such a hoopla about. Self-imposed anxiety derived primarily from one's own highly critical view of your ability to do something is not a pleasant state.

Looking out at Spring from Blåsenhus. The castle completely obscured.

Nevertheless, onward I plodded, through the beautiful, sunny-weathered weekend. The draft is incomplete, in need for some serious editing and refinement, but I'm happy its done and ready for the next phase of writing development. Two unique and different things about the writing process this time around have come to mind 1) the writing felt lighter, I was able to put aside my 'internal editor' and just write - I fully accepted that the editor role would come at some point in the future, but that consciously putting it aside at this beginning stage was in some respects rather liberating. 2) writing collaboratively is such a gift; you know there is someone you can lean on, someone who shares the burden and someone rallying for you to be successful in the terms you define. Even though this is only the second collaborative writing project I've been involved with, I've been lucky with my co-authors. My writing has benefited from the positive energy and spirit they have infused in the process, whether they know it or not.