A handful of minutes ago I complete the first draft of Evinden, the novel I’ve been working on for the last nine-or-so years (about six of which involved the main writing part). It’s taken me far longer than it should have and there’s still work to be done to fill in some plot holes and tidy things up…but the main work is done. The body of the story is there, from start to finish.
It’s a proper novel. 158,380 words isn’t too shabby, really. It’s a real book!
Can’t quite form coherent thoughts about the experience of completion at this point, perhaps because I’m aware that it won’t be even vaguely publishable until the third draft. An important milestone nonetheless. I have to admit to being a teensy weensy bit proud.
And quite a bit scared.
0 Comments
Carla · October 20, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Nice one. Milestone indeed! Personally, I consider 158,381 words to be the minimum for a real novel, but nevermind – still a good effort. 😛
Hope you crack some champagne or gin or whatever you authors drink and celebrate your work.
x
Simon Jones · October 20, 2009 at 10:05 pm
I had a small glass of wine. 😉
The average length for a novel varies betweeen genres, going from about 40,000 to 100,000. Either way I seem to qualify, although I’m probably on the slender end of the fantasy genre!
Voodoo · October 20, 2009 at 11:43 pm
So when do we get to proof read this opus? 🙂
Simon Jones · October 24, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Not going public till next year, sorry. 🙂