Finish line in sight?

Still in holding mode, waiting for one of my readers. One way or another, though, I plan to get back to work on the book by Monday, May 25. I'm picking that date because I'll be done grading end-of-semester papers by then. Busy with that this week and next and so I can't expect to get any good work done on the book now anyway.

That should set me up for a pretty satisfying writing schedule for the summer I think. Work on the next draft in the mornings and work on projects for my freelance clients (and on finding more clients) in the afternoons.

I've tried hard not to give myself deadlines that will tempt me to take shortcuts on the work. But I am starting to think that I am near the end. My opinion right now is that I need to: identify what the tough decisions are; make the tough decisions; and make the corresponding revisions.

I could go wrong by misidentifying what the tough decisions are, by losing my nerve when making them or by struggling with writing smooth fixes. But assuming that I'm right about where I am and assuming that I can do it, I think I'll be starting the final draft (depending on how you define draft) in a couple weeks, and I don't see any reason it should take any longer than the rest of the summer. I'm starting to think of this summer as the push for the finish line. I think the finish line is in sight.