I have been missing for a month! But, I have a very good reason as to why: I am almost done with the first draft of my novel (yes, you can probably hear me screaming for joy from wherever you are) and it is probably the most challenging thing I've ever done. I just finished graduate school in May, and I don't think writing my thesis was as hard as writing a novel. I had a year to do my sampling and collect data and then writing it was the easy part. I actually wrote it in about 20 hours over the course of two weeks.
Writing a novel is hard. It makes you happy, sad, fearful, anxious, gives you ISS (I Suck Syndrome), and tests your drive. Luckily, I persevered and it is a fabulous feeling. I am about 8k words away from saying "I HAVE A FINISHED NOVEL!!" Albeit a crappy first draft, but a draft I can work with. I cannot WAIT for revisions. I know some of you may think I'm nuts, but I love to revise. I was a journalist for a few years and then did technical/scientific writing, and revising has always been more fun for me than drafting.
So I guess this blog post is an apology for my lack of posts, but also to share my good news.
Tell me some of your good news! Or tell me what part of the writing process you like most; drafting, or revising? Or something else? I would love to know =)
Congratulations!!! We're so happy for you. And perhaps a bit jealous, lol. Two of us are in the midst of first drafts, and two of us are editing.
ReplyDeleteI love that ISS! So true. But finishing is the cure for it.
ReplyDeleteI'm in the middle of my wip, so I have a while before I get to celebrate with you!
Something must be in the air because I just finished my first draft on Friday. Good luck with the rest! And congrats!
ReplyDeleteISS...great diagnosis. I suffer from that too often! Congrats on the first draft and good luck with the revisions! I just finished my final revision of my first novel and am working on the rewrite of my second in the series. It is a great feeling! Are you going to try to get it published? What's it about/genre?
ReplyDeleteRevising is my favorite part of the writing process too! I wrote an entire post on how I revise my books.
ReplyDeletehttp://parafantasy.blogspot.com/2010/12/ezmirelda-on-writing-revising.html
Ha! ISS. I definetly get it, especially when I get hit with writer's block :)
You are super speedy with the writing there! Congrats!!! I’m so happy to have been writing alongside you for #1k1hr through this draft. :)
ReplyDeleteI too love revisions, it’s where the foundation of the story becomes a home and all blooms to life.
Congrats for finishing a draft. I love the editing part. Good luck with the polish.
ReplyDeleteThank you, everyone =) I now have a finished draft and I've been revising! It's a delicate balance between total isolation and getting a lot of editing and revising done. Hopefully I won't stay in the revision cave during all my free time.
ReplyDeleteYou all are fabulous, though!! Let me know how your writing is going!