I told a fellow writer that I finished my memoir, but that at more than 100,000 words, editors were saying –without reading it — that it was too long, and I was working on tightening it… I was just getting into the loaded issue of submission and fear of rejection and finding the right agent/editor/publisher, when she cut me off and said, “First of all, you need to celebrate that you wrote over 100,000 words. Everything else – editing, publishing – comes after that. But right now, stop, and tell yourself how wonderful it is that you wrote so much, that you finished what you started.” Thank you, Leah. You’re right. Deep breath. I started and I finished. This step is a celebration.