Back in October I started the second draft of my (still untitled) British crime novel.
I wanted to put the skills I’d honed during the 2 and a half years spent studying creative writing into action. At 22:00 yesterday, I typed the final words of the epilogue. RE-WRITE COMPLETE!
YAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!
This month I’ve worked my way through the final 50 pages and 15k words. There were a few sections in the first draft that I’d put holding (more on this later) comments. They’ve now been written so after a long EIGHT months I now have a completed draft of my book. And, it feels GREAT 😀
There’s still a lot of work to do to reach the standard I want, more editing and some tweaks to the plot. But, my major goal for 2012 was to complete this draft. Done that!
Time to place the completed manuscript into the drawer for a couple of weeks and then read it with fresh eyes. I don’t know about you, but I don’t re-read each chapter after a new draft. If I did that I would end up editing the same few pages over and over. And, over. I re-write and move forward.
Why is my novel untitled?
I did have a title for a long time and someone stole used it. I only have myself to blame. If I’d edited the book back in 2006 when I finished the first draft the title was unique. Now, not so much. I do have a few ideas in mind so when I finish the next draft I will decide then. See what fits.
I’m OCD about saving my work. I once got out of bed to turn my laptop back on to save my book to a flash drive. Previously, I’ve lost a whole chapter when my computer had a nervous breakdown. That teaches you to SAVE YOUR WORK.
So, I have a printed copy; the copy on my laptop; two flash drives with the full folder of files and I will email it to myself. Just to make sure I have enough copies. Paranoid Pete to the rescue!
I will leave you with a picture taken last week in sunny Cleethorpes! The rain returned today across most of the UK. Summer over already?
Sunny day at Cleethorpes
Thanks for reading.
Pete Denton 
I’m so pleased for you Pete. I hope the rest of the checking goes forward in a couple of weeks with no trouble and we soon see the book on the market. I wish you the very best of luck with it.
Thanks, David.
I’m glad to have finally finished the full draft. I’m getting there!
Congratulations on finishing your second draft, Pete!!
Thanks, Joyce. 🙂
Congrats! One thing about your previous title. You know no on can copyright titles, right? If what you had worked well for the book, use it anyway. 🙂
Thanks, Julie. I know that I could use the title and I’ve used it for nearly 7 years so feels the natural fit. I wanted to use a title that hadn’t been used before. When I read through for the next draft I will see if that still seems the best choice. I might still use it anyway 🙂
I gave up on the idea of a title that’s never been used before a long time ago. With the uncountable number of books that have been published across history, I doubt I could find one that I like that *hadn’t* been used already. 🙂
You have a good point. I’ll see what fits best when I next read through. Thanks 🙂
Milestones are a wonderful thing. Good for you Pete. Good for you.
Milestones are fabulous, Robin. I thought I would never complete a full draft, but I have!
You have gained confidence; you are a role model for us all!
Bettye
Thanks, Bettye. For too many years I’ve ambled through thinking: I’ll do that tomorrow. Setting the goals this year has certainly helped me so far. That and all the support I’ve had on here 🙂
Happy editing! It sounds like you have it down.
Thanks, Rebecca. I always hated the thought of editing. I found it daunting. Now, I enjoy tearing apart a sentence and redrafting. 🙂
You MUST celebrate 🙂
I celebrated with a Curly Wurly. A piece of chocolate is always a good reward. I do have one each day so maybe I should do something else. I will give it thought 🙂
Way to go on finishing up that 2nd draft! Good luck on coming up with a new name. It takes me forever to come up with just the right title.
Thanks, Tina. I hate thinking up titles. I’m hoping something else will spring out when I read it again. Hoping!
Congratulations! It’s a lovely feeling to finally complete something, isn’t it? I’m with you on the need to put it away for a while so that you can view it with fresh eyes. But for now, go celebrate!
Thanks, Kasia. It does feel GREAT to have finally finished a whole draft. 1st draft had too many (add something here) comments. 🙂 I’ll leave it for a few weeks before coming back to it again. Time to work on the next project!
Congrats, Pete – that’s great. Well done.
Thanks 🙂
Fantastic – I’m nowhere near completing the first draft of my book, so I’m very slightly jealous! Mind you, I did only start it this January. Well done you anyway! 🙂
Thanks, Vanessa. It seems to have taken a long time to do the 2nd draft. Good luck with your first draft 🙂
Well done!! There’s nothing like finishing that last word, it’s brilliant and very rewarding!
And I totally agree, loosing work is heartbreaking, saving is so important, I learned to use the ‘control and S’ after my computer decided to rebel and freeze then go black and I lost so much work. You plead with it, get angry and then you just have to admit defeat. Starting again is hard!
Starting again is very hard. When I lost my chapter it was the end of a long day and I jotted down about five sentences on what had happened. I then went to bed!
Feels better now knowing I have 742 backups 🙂 Who’s paranoid?? ME
Well Done – fantastic progress for 2012! And I so agree with you – it may be hard work backing everything up and making sure each and every word is saved but its heart breaking realising all those thoughts and ideas went down the loo.
Congrats Pete! That’s a big milestone. Smart to put it away for a while and come back to it too. Time gives distance and perspective. 🙂
Thanks, Kourtney. It was a millstone and now is a milestone. Much easier to carry! A couple of weeks should be enough. I don’t want to leave it six years again 🙂
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Congrats! I know I always feel incredible after finishing a major project, be it a first draft or a rewrite. Writing a book is hard work.
And I’m the same way with backups. Have you ever considered using Dropbox? It’ll back your changes up offsite automatically and immediately. Box.net also has a similar product, both free. I’ve been using Dropbox for a couple years now and it’s wonderful.
Take care,
Brian
Thanks, Brian. They are hard work aren’t they!
Thanks for the tips I’ll check them out.
Keep going, Pete!
Keep going! Don’t let up now!
Thanks. I won’t stop yet!
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Great job, Pete! I’m on my 100th draft on my first novel. Haha. Truth is, I’ve had my first story written for so long, but each time I think it’s ready, I learn new things and I look at it again and see it’s not ready. I think I’m getting close now though. I better be, because I’d like to move on to other stories.
Keep on keeping on! Happy writing!
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