Thursday, October 14, 2010

I Did It

I finished my novel!

I started thinking about it seriously last May (2009), making notes and character sketches and a vague plot outline.  I intended to start writing right away, but couldn't find the internal fortitude to take that intimidating first step.  Then I decided Nanowrimo would provide the butt-kicking that I required, and I started actually writing on November 1.  By November 30, I was 50,000 words in.

And apparently overwhelmed and burned out, because I basically couldn't write anything for months afterward, despite obsessing about the novel.  In June I finally got back to work, and now here I am, at just over 70,000 words, at THE END.

I am simultaneously really proud of myself, and excited to get going with editing/revising, and also extremely sad.  It's surprised me, but I've walked around for the past couple of days feeling positively bereft, and a little weepy.  These characters have been walking around in my head for over a year, and I miss them!

I've decided to skip Nanowrimo this year, even though I was looking forward to it and had already started planning a new novel, because I just can't stand the thought of pushing my current work in progress aside, even for a month.  I'm going to print out the whole thing -- first sentence to last sentence -- and start revising.

But, I did it!  I feel like I can now officially call myself a writer.  I'm a novelist.  Yay, me!

5 comments:

  1. ellen, i got chills reading your post! Congratulations on finishing! Now comes the fun part, the revising. Now you're no longer traveling blind yet every time you enter a scene in your novel you may hear dialogue or notice new details that maybe you didn't the first time around. How fabulous!

    I know the sad feeling, but don't worry, you'll be living with these characters for a while yet. I am so happy for you and proud of you!

    Do you feel able to share the title of your novel?

    Your NOVEL! Doesn't that sound wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you! Your support and encouragement has really meant a lot to me, Angella.

    My novel! Eeeee. It does sound wonderful! The sadness has dissipated and excitement is setting in. I love revising!

    Oh, I wish I could share the title with you. Unfortunately, the title hasn't been shared with ME yet. My husband assures me that something will come to me as I'm revising. I'll keep you updated if/when that happens.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yay, you, indeed. Congrats! What's the query plan? Or is that still miles off?

    Cheers,
    Kristen

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks, KLM! I am not quite to the querying point yet, but I am already beginning to worry about it around the edges. I did enjoy your Query Letter Manifesto! Good advice :)

    ReplyDelete

Tell me what you think!