One and a half more chapters, and my new novel's first draft will be done. Interestingly, the light at the end of the tunnel is not bringing me relief, but a sense of responsibility that I'm trying to keep from becoming panic.
Suddenly I am drowning in work. I do edit previous chapters as I write new ones, so the task could be even scarier. But I've promised my beta readers the first ten-chapter chunk next week, so that's another round of edits. And as I prep for beta, I'm making my chapter-by-chapter synopsis and my style sheet of invented terms and concepts so that I (and a publisher) can be consistent in their usage.
The purpose of this flurry of activity is to be sure a finished novel is really that: a completed work ready to be sent to publishers. In six weeks, out it goes, so it needs to be all shiny. Short stories may need to wait a couple of weeks. But that's okay. I'm ahead of sched on those anyway.
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Congrats, Anne! I feel differently every time I get to this stage. It depends on the manuscript. Sometimes I'm really excited and others I'm sad to see the story come to a close. Sometimes I look forward to revisions--like you I revise as I go. Other times I dread the daunting task of revising. Crazy, right?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on reaching the end of it! I'm sure that overwhelmed feeling will go away when you get the last bit written. I have to make myself get a first draft done before I do much editing. Otherwise I'll keep polishing that fist bit forever and never get anything else written. I'm impressed that you can do it as you go.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing quite like getting to the end of the story. I usually have a couple days of depression that I've finished that character's story, and like Kelly, I sometimes look forward to revision, and sometimes I LOATHE it! :)
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