My first draft of the novel is now done, seven wonderful days early

Well tonight I did it. I finished my first draft of the book - all 85,000 words of it. I thought I’d feel elated and jump for joy to celebrate my accomplishment, but honestly, I’m a bit freaked out.

Now comes the serious part. Now comes the part where I take my story and try to craft it into something people will want to read. Time to fix my mistakes and poor grammar. I’m filled with doubt at the moment that it’s possible. I want to dive in and start re-writing. I actually already re-edited the first few chapters because I just couldn’t leave it alone. But, there is a lot of work waiting to be done – 450 pages worth. My working title is "Off the grid."

Conventional wisdom says I should set it aside for a week before jumping back in. Ironically I already lost a week (last week) because of work and travel. Last Sunday I had a seven-hour marathon writing session to get me to the end. That meant the only thing I had to finish was the very end, which included one final chapter and then a little wrap up epilogue.

My medical woes during the process have continued. I’ve got a massive head cold and stayed home from work yesterday and today. Wrote my final words between doses of sinus medication and drips of snot. Not a pretty sight let me tell you.

To make it even more confusing, I had to write a prologue too, which had been kicking around in my head since Thanksgiving. So the last words I wrote were actually the first words of the book. My brain is now bending trying to keep it straight.

It’s real, damn it. It’s finally real.  It feels really good and really scary at the same time.

The clock is ticking toward the end of March

I snapped this little pic of my word count after I hit the big 

7-0 at lunch today. Big day. Got another 1,700 out tonight.

The frequency of my posts have been on the decline and I can’t say I’m sorry about that since I’m focusing my efforts on writing the book. Today at lunch, sitting in the hallway that doubles as an employee learning center, I passed 70,000 words – my original word count goal. I ain’t done yet though.

So now, I’m in overtime and it feels a bit freeing. No way can you say honestly that your story can be told in a set number of words, unless of course, you let creativity take a backseat.

I anticipate another 10-15k works. I’m at 72,000 as of tonight and I’m still building toward the final climax of the book, and then the gentle let down that hopefully resolves any remaining issues.

These last 12,000 words have been a little slow going. I had to have a third eye surgery since December. Wouldn’t you know it, exactly when I need both eyes, one of them checks out on me. Ever had tissue glue in your eye? I wouldn’t recommend it.

I promised myself that I would finish the first rough draft by the end of the March. It’s March 10 and the clock is ticking. If you need me, I’ll be behind the keyboard, hopefully with both eyes intact.