But will it work?

I have this minor issue. I write novel length fiction but I never quite finish it. It’s always a draft that needs work. This is a substantial problem for my life as a writer, I can’t actually sell stuff that’s not quite ready.
So as I finished a draft of the story that I refer to as The Origin of the Wells (though I plan to change that) and I had it in that place where I needed to make a few edits and minor changes, I became impossibly stuck. Usually I just abandon the project and start playing with something else but I wanted to push this through. Unfortunately that meant I had writing time that I was balking at using. Again, not so good for my life as a writer.
Somehow I ended up leaving the library with the book The Artist’s Way. (I blame God, I really can’t remember why or how I ended up with it.) And since the author’s goal with the book is helping creative types get unblocked and/or unstuck, I thought it would make sense to at least open it. It offers a twelve week ‘course’ and in the beginning the author (Julia Cameron) asks you to sign a contract that you’ll complete the whole plan. I wrestled with the joint problems of gross over-enthusiasm (this is going to be amazing, revolutionize my working life!) and a passive sort of cynicism (it’s going to be a big drain on my time and I’m going to end up in exactly the same place I started, just twelve weeks later). But I decided that I was probably going to sit and procrastinate for twelve weeks anyway so I might as well give it a try.
So that’s what I’ve been doing. So far I’ve written less than usual but I did shove the draft of Origin forward enough to give it to my favorite copy editor. (Conveniently, I’m married to him so he works for free.) The main reason I did that much work was because I invited a bunch of my friends to a Tea Party/Ceremony to celebrate the finished draft. (I don’t work well to deadlines, I just don’t work at all without them.)
Of course, I only did about half of what was really required so I have several things that I know he’s going to redline. And, while he may not catch it, I never sat down and worked out the continuity and timing of the one character’s pregnancy. They use a different dating convention (ten day spans instead of seven day weeks) so I need to make sure her pregnancy is progressing at a normal pace and I can’t just easily glance at it. (I had to make it more complicated, didn’t I?)  But the process of working through The Artist’s Way is my major activity right now. I’m not sure its helping me write but it is helping my relationship with God, so I won’t complain. I’m just beginning the sixth week and I should finish the process around Christmas. So, we’ll see if I have a burst of creative production for 2009. (I’ll take a beneficial steady stream.)