Sunday, March 7, 2010

That's a Wrap!

It's official!! The first draft of Seer is DONE!!!!!!!!!! 70,018 words, 26 completed chapters, and 157 not-quite-double-spaced-to-save-paper pages! You can tell by all the superfluous exclamation points that I'm EXCITED!!!! :-) :-) :-)

I also sorta don't know what to do with myself now. All the wisdom of the ages says to put it in a drawer for at least a week before I dive into revisions. Sad. But true.

At any rate, as a variation on the weekly stats, I give you:

Things I Learned While Writing This Novel
  1. Apparently it is possible for me to tell a story in under 100,000 words. :-)
  2. It's okay and sometimes necessary to change your outline on the fly.
  3. I am definitely not above bribery-by-chocolate.
  4. World-building as you go is an adventure, but it works out okay in the end. I think.
  5. Random things inserted at the beginning to add flavor to the narrative might turn out to be important later on.
  6. I have a very poor grasp on the actual floor plan of my building-where-everything-happens. Stairs and rooms and hallways pop up in rather odd places.
  7. Stories tend to develop their own sense of internal logic. This is pretty awesome. Run with it.
  8. I can't remember physical descriptions of minor characters.
  9. I'm really good at making up history for my world and then being inconsistent with the details.
  10. All important conversations happen in hallways.
  11. I am so addicted to Facebook that I will check it during my writing time, even if I happen to be in the middle of the climax.
  12. I like to sit by a window when I'm writing, so I can stare out of it in proper daydreamer fashion if I happen to get stuck.
  13. I'm convinced my main characters have medical problems. Their hearts and stomachs do pretty strange things when they're happy/scared/sad/excited/experiencing any kind of emotion at all. They might should get that checked out.
  14. My mind is a strange, strange place. But I guess I knew that already. :-)
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**does the excited dance of first draft done-ness**

3 comments:

Danielle Pajak said...

Woooooooo! Huzzah! I am happy to hear of this momentous occasion! Also, that is quite a list of things you have learned throughout the process. Hehe! I wouldn't so quick to say you can write a novel in less than 100k seeing as you haven't finished the editing process yet. ;-) Haha!

YAY YAY YAY!

Becky said...

Congrats!! Finishing is such a rush. :)

Joanna Ruth Meyer said...

Thanks guys! I feel loved. :-)

Danielle, I'm actually pretty sure it's not going to get any longer during revisions. There ARE two sequels rattling round in my head, though. :-)

Rebecca, it IS such a rush! I really don't know what to do with myself! :-)