The end of a book in progress

I just finished writing the ending to "Goodbye Grammarian". While my first instinct is to celebrate this, I'm too aware of the work yet to be done on this before I can send it off to beta readers on June 1. Even as I lay that date down onto the screen - JUNE 1 - it seems to loom impossibly soon.

As I've gone through this draft, I first made notes on the whole thing, then went back to the beginning and started implementing them, typing things in, revising plot, structure, characters and language.

There have been lots of characters who deserved more screen time, some who needed to be repositioned, and others who needed to be cut. Actions needed to be explained and justified, events needed to have rational links to what came before and to set up what comes after. There are still some minor scenes to be written according to notes I made as I revised. These are to provide a more coherent structure, and to make some of the relationships more believable.

I'm not even sure what to call this draft. I've been thinking it as a first draft, now having gone through the first edit. However, I read someplace that until a manuscript can be read cover to cover without any missing chunks, fill-in-the-blank placeholders or other gaps in the writing, it doesn't even qualify as a bad first draft, but should instead be regarded as just an incomplete rough draft.

I've been revising for language and sentence structure as I went along. Does this mean that as soon as I slot in the missing bits, I'll jump from rough draft to second draft? This is so far from a linear process that I'm not at all sure what milestones I should use to judge my progress.

The fact that I'm shying away from this "incomplete rough draft" designation tells me how much psychological value I'm placing on being able to say, "I've finished the first draft". That, in turn, should tell me something about myself... but what?

===== Feel free to comment on this or any other post.

p.s. "Goodbye Grammarian" - I've been thinking for some time that this book is going to need an new title. Changing the way I refer to it is going to be hard, though.

11 comments:

  1. I don't see why it's not a first draft, or even a second, when you take NaNo into account. Whatever you want to call it, I'm looking forward to reading it some day. :)

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  2. You should most definitely call it whatever strikes you as true and pause a moment to celebrate the milestone. Think of it as a water break in a marathon or an intermission at the theatre. Good progress to be sure - congrats!

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    1. Thank you! Forward progress is good progress. ;-)

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  3. I'm working on my finale polish before publication, but I've frozen half way through - am I afraid of the next step???? But you should definitely stop to congratulate yourself on finishing the first draft, that is a mile stone in any novel! Well done.

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    1. Being frozen just before the finish line is something I'm familiar with. You should celebrate, too, and set a deadline for yourself. That works for me.

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  4. I finished my second draft in late April, and I feel the same way you do. It's more like draft -3, because I have so much to do before it can be read cover to cover without those missing pieces. Still, it was a great feeling to know I made it to the end a second time, and I imagine getting to the end a third time will feel even better. Finishing a draft is a huge accomplishment; it's something you do on your own time, without a supervisor or boss drilling you to meet deadlines. So, celebrate the steps on your journey. Just make each celebration better than the last one. Cheers!

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    1. And cheers right back on your second draft!

      Every draft done is another step closer to getting it off my desk. I feel as though I've not done justice to this book, not yet. When the revisions are done, though, then it will truly be time to celebrate. 8-)

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  5. Good on you, Tony, for writing the ending. I always get euphoric when that happens. Hope you did too.

    Funny, I always thought the first draft was the rough draft.
    ~jon

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  6. It's a first draft IMO. There's too much hair-splitting on what constitutes a complete draft and so forth. Even if it's rough, it's the first.

    But whatever you call it, congrats! (Now the really hard work begins.)

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  7. I'm really relieved you finished it! Yes, you've loads of work to do. Yes it'll change. Yes, it does feel early to celebrate but you know what, you finished it! Many don't.

    There's a temptation to never celebrate until its perfect or done but if you follow that line life will be awfully sad. So go on, treat yourself, do some DIY or something!

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