There’s a lot of truth to the idea that writing a novel is a marathon, not a sprint. As I finally begin wrapping up a major revision of my children’s novel, I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. This revision took me far longer than I imagined it would; still, I’ve enjoyed every aspect of it. I had a steep learning curve as a nonfiction writer making my first foray into fiction and I feel I’ve climbed it. Yes, there were plenty of times when it felt like I was hanging on by my fingernails, but I kept moving forward, slowly but steadily.

As I’ve made my way through this final phase of writing, I’ve had a few surprises. I want to share them here in the hopes that if some of you are in the throes of an intense revision right now, this will give you the heart to keep pushing through:

It’s still fun and exciting: This is my third major revision, yet I’m still thoroughly enjoying reshaping my story. In fact, I’m more enthusiastic than ever about it because I feel that this time around, my characters are richer, my arc is stronger, and my plot is more cohesive. All the strands of my story are coming together. It’s enormously satisfying to look back at an old draft and see how far I’ve come.

New ideas still crop up: Just recently, a friend’s comment prompted me to revisit a key moment in my plot and I realized it needed to be stronger. I noodled around a couple of options and then a new idea popped up. I started playing with it and came up with a solution that I really liked. It led to both a more dramatic moment and a new plot opportunity — and gave me a real shot of adrenalin.

Crafting an ending is tough, but satisfying: While I had a rough idea of how to end my story, it took me a long time to pull it together. Even though my last chapter is short, I wanted to pack a lot into it and just the idea of this was daunting. But when I sat down and wrote it based on some notes I’d made, it began taking shape. I’m still tinkering with it, but it’s almost there. There’s an emotional element to penning an ending — surrendering a story that you’ve spent countless hours living in isn’t easy. It takes time and it’s hard. So be gentle with yourself if you find that you are struggling to make your story whole.

You’ll know when you’re done: While I’ve spent many hours fine-tuning, I’m finally at a place where I know I’ve pushed the story as far as I can. It’s easy to tinker endlessly, but I can honestly say that I feel I’ve created the characters and world I envisioned and now I’m ready (just about!) to send my story out into the world. When you realize that the changes you are making aren’t really making your work stronger, it’s time to stop.

And here’s one more thing I’ve learned about revision that might prove helpful: If you think of it as enriching your story — making it deeper, stronger, truer, more of everything you want it to be — it really helps make this whole phase of writing easier and more fulfilling. Write on!