On Completion, Vulnerability, and True Fiction

Yesterday I completed a manuscript.

I use the term "completed" very loosely here, meaning that I finally got the manuscript to a point where there were no significant text gaps and major plot threads were incorporated. In other words, I got it into a form that I felt comfortable having someone else read. And I use the term "comfortable" very loosely here.

Allowing someone else to read your writing is opening yourself to vulnerability. I do not particularly enjoy being vulnerable.

But I need to become vulnerable if I'm to seek help with this manuscript. There are things I really like about this manuscript, and I need to know if other people like anything about it.

These characters have become real to me and I feel compelled to tell their story. I've worked hard at making their story true.

Which is to say this is fiction.