DRAFTED

Done! And my longest first draft ever* at 82K, although this feels less like a first draft than my usual, too... since I have been working on it for ages, and did some revision during. Which I hardly ever do.

Now to watch a lot of Fringe, finish Sarah MacLean's delicious new romance, and then tomorrow catch up on metric tons of freelance stuff.

Still, yay. Done. (For now.) The creepy island novel exists!

*My first drafts tend to come in short. Hopefully, not this time.

**On twitter, I mentioned that I have this slight but constant anxiety whenever I'm mid-draft or -revision, that I'll be hit by a bus (or lightning or a falling piano) before it's completed and so all I'll have left on my computer is this random mess that isn't done. Morbid writer thoughts or type A personality run rampant? You decide.

Comments

[Jenny]

Congratulations!

[GWENDA BOND]

Thank you, dearie! Can't wait to read your new book, btw.

[Karen]

Huge, huge congrats! And just in time to have a bit of weekend left for the celebrating. YAYAYAY

[Colleen]

Good for you and if it helps, I have a similar anxiety about all the works cluttering my laptop. I can only imagine what someone would think of the mess if I were to expire.

[GWENDA BOND]

Or for proofing jobs! :)

[GWENDA BOND]

We need the ability to carry a red button that autoencrypts or something.

[Nicola Griffith]

Oh, I am so jealous! But, woo hoo, many congrats. There are few more satisfying moments. Enjoy the rest of autumn...

[GWENDA BOND]

And revising... ;)

[Victoria Janssen]

Congratulations!

[[email protected]]

Hooray, hooray! I have exactly the same anxiety about dying when the book might look finished, but isn't even close. (I wonder how Jane Austen feels about Persuasion from her writing table in the sky?) I figure if I carry my laptop everywhere maybe we can all go together.
But you are an inspiration! 82,000 words of inspiration -- Other Karen

[Shveta Thakrar]

Yippeeeeee!

[GWENDA BOND]

Thank you, dearie!

[GWENDA BOND]

I'll be *even more* inspired when I finally get to read your chimp book!

I do wonder if there are a batch of disgruntled writers peering through the smudged glass of death, upset because they cannot wield the lightning bolt against the living rifling through their papers.

[GWENDA BOND]

Thank you, doll! How go your revisions?

[Steve Lyon]

Congratulations! Will you let it sit for a while before plunging back in? How much of a while?

[GWENDA BOND]

Thanks! I've let books sit for as much as a month and a half, but that's usually because my first drafts are fast. I'm a believer in Stephen Koch's fast draft/slow draft or slow draft/fast draft approach, more or less. This draft took a lot longer than my usual, so after a quick clean-up pass I'll let it sit for a week or two while I get first read(s). Then I'll dive back in and do some revision, especially because I already have a decent idea (I think) of what the revision will look like.

[Ed]

Congratulations! 140K here, even after killing 10K. Good to know that there is eventually an end!

[GWENDA BOND]

Wow. Rock on!