Last night, despite battling netbook issues and suffering most of the day with a migraine, I typed the closing words on the first draft of my WIP, Silent Oath.
For those who don't know, Silent Oath is the sequel to my first novel. I'm sure I'll change the title later but despite how hard I find it to come up with good titles, I find I can't get into a new book until I've given it at least a temporary name. It has been a fun book to write. I really enjoyed getting back into the characters' heads and telling the story of how they'd grown since I'd last had them in my head.
The draft has been sent on to my amazing team of beta readers so I'm going to try not to think about all the little mistakes I've probably made. The thing is, while I should probably just relax and spend some time not writing, I know it'll probably be tomorrow at the latest before I'm chomping at the bit to write again. I'm glad I still have Nightfall to work on.
Do any of you find it hard to sit still once you've completed a first draft? How do you handle the wait until you start doing edits?
Sep 5, 2011
First Draft
Paul Anthony Shortt believes in magic and monsters. In ghosts and fairies. The creatures that lurk under the bed and inside the closet. The things that live in the dark, and the heroes who stand against them. Above all, he believes that stories have the power to change the world, and the most important stories are the ones which show that monsters can be beaten.
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Seeing as I tend to write short stories rather than novels at the moment, and they tend to involve characters belonging to others (fiction based on roleplaying) I send it off to them, and then go through the text myself for a final check before I start getting feedback. This is mostly to clear up any spelling mistakes I missed or tweak sentences that don't quite work.
ReplyDeleteI find keeping a note of what I've changed help when it comes to getting feedback, so they can flag something up and I can check the list to see if I fixed that in my post-draft sendout review.
As for moving straight on to writing other things, I tend to take a break actually. After writing a six part, 26,000 word story in 4 days, I wanted to cool down rather than burn out.
I tend to have difficulty chaining story after story though, something I'm working on. Creative stamina might be the term I assign to it.
- Ellen J. Miller
I feel mega antsy when I reach the end. But it's not just the end of the completed article. It's each time I reach the end of a chapter and another piece of the puzzle has been achieved. I'm certainly too antsy to write. So I doss for the rest of the day. I think about everything that has gone into my masterpiece (*snort*) and I move on to something new. After all, I'm a big believer that work needs time to stew before you attack it again. Attacking it too soon often leads to inadequate editing.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on finishing. Now I need to get my act into gear. :o)
You're just like me, haha. I can't go more than a day without working on something, whether it be new writing or revising or even just proofreading.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on finishing your first draft!
Paul, you amaze me! What a wonderful point you've reached. Um, let's see, I have to be totally distracted by other things in order to let it sit for a while. So, I recommend a vacation!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!