Saturday, October 31, 2009

I DID IT!!!!

The first draft of The Unlikely One is finished.

Coming in at 59,197 words, it has room to shrink.

As all my stories do!

I'm a little numb right now. Pleasantly content with my accomplishment, but not over-enthusiastic at all. Maybe finishing a story on Halloween night, in the midst of tricker treaters can't compete with the fun of gifting scarecrows, pirates, spidermen, and prisoners with chips and various sugary treats. Or maybe I'm just exhausted, and know this isn't the end of working with Fiona and Carter.

In any case, The Unlikely One will rest in a safe place on my hard drive, and backup version too, until after NaNoWriMo, when I'll come back to it for its first round of many revisions. That leaves me a month to sharpen those editing knives.

So thankful for the gift of a new story to span the break between first draft and edits. Can't wait to get started on The Innkeeper's Christmas tomorrow. [Rubbing hands together in anticipation.]

What about you? How do you honestly feel when you finish that first draft? Is it different with each story? Is it bitter sweet?


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen


p.s. These are the carvings my daughters did this year. The top one is a horse head. She drew it freehand and carved it wonderfully, I think. I'm so impressed!!

28 comments:

Sherrinda Ketchersid said...

Congratulations! What an amazing accomplishment! Especially on the heels of NaNo starting up tomorrow! I have only finished one MS and it was such a feeling of accomplishment. I was so proud. I still haven't gotten around to editing it, but hope to soon. I wanted to start a new story for NaNo, but work got in the way once again and I only got character sketches done. I need to do some plotting! :) Good luck on NaNo...keep us posted!

Wendy Love said...

Congratulations! That is a triumph! I have only finished one novel so far and since I wasn't satisfied that it was any good, I am still working on it. I am doing a new one for NaNoWriMo and am quite excited.

Katie Ganshert said...

Congratulation!!!! What an awesome feeling! You go girl! Are you planning on writing another for NaNo?

Jessica said...

Congrats!! That's wonderful news. :)

And the pumpkins came out great!

Steena Holmes said...

That's fantastic! Congrat's! I know exactly how you feel - I completed the first draft of mine a week ago. I'm now in the midst of edits - wasn't sure if I should take a month off and do NanoWriMo or just edit ...

Kristen Torres-Toro said...

Congratulations! That is a GREAT feeling! I love finishing a first draft. It's so exhilarating. Great idea to set it aside too.... it'll give you fresh eyes for when you come back!

Diane Marie Shaw said...

What a feeling of accomplishment you must be feeling. Congratulations, I wish there were a better word. :)
Diane

Cindy R. Wilson said...

Congratulations! What a great way to make your weekend more memorable. That's exciting, too, that you have another project to work on right away and then you can get to those edits with fresh eyes once November's over. Woo hoo!!!

Jody Hedlund said...

Awesome, Eileen! I'm so proud of you! I will be rooting for you this next month to finish another! Wow! That seems so far out to me! But I know you can do it!

And the horse head is awesome! Tell your daughter she's gifted!

Rebecca Nazar said...

Congrats to you! Good luck in you next endeavor--nice title.

Completing a draft is nice, but submitting is the greater thrill for me.

Joanne said...

Congrats on your manuscript. It's always great to get back to it after some time away and see it with fresh eyes. Good luck on Nano, a nice way to spend the month away. Great pumpkins, too!

♥♥ tuğçe♥♥ said...

congrats!!! and these pumpkins look cute happy halloween((:

Jessica Nelson said...

I usually feel content, satisfied. Successful. LOL
But I think you are exhausted too, and that's probably why you're numb. Congrats!
After revisions I usually feel braindead. LOL

Amy DeTrempe said...

Congrats on finishing the WIP and good luck with Nano!

Lillian Robinson said...

Woopee! Can you hear me screaming? A happy scream... not a Halloween scream.

I haven't gotten there yet, but soon. Good luck with the editing.

BTW, have her check out my recent post on my essay's blog. I posted pics of dog-faced jack-o-lanterns. (Not my artwork.) Love the horse head.

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Eileen -

Congratulations! Have fun with NaNoWriMo. :)

Blessings,
Susan

Janna Leadbetter said...

Congratulations, Eileen! That's great news.

Stephanie Faris said...

I do feel a little thrill when I finish something...but I also usually have that disconcerted feeling...like maybe it's not as good as I thought? Then I look back at it later and realize it was good all along. Writing is definitely a roller coaster, isn't it?

Bina said...

CONGRATULATIONS!! You must be so happy...and I am very happy for you. As an off and on again ADHD focused writer, I am very impressed that you stuck it out and got it done...
A warm hug for you tonight,
Bina

DreamDancer said...

Congrats, clap clap!!! I can only imagine your excitement. Keep up the great work!

Diane said...

So proud of you. You hung tough and it's at a good place. Can't wait to see where God takes it! :O)

Georgiana Daniels said...

YAY!!! That's amazing. Now you can focus on NANO without having that in the back of your mind. Woohoo!

Terri Tiffany said...

I missed this! YAYYYYY! Happy for you:) I think it feels awesome to finish a book!

Susan Anne Mason said...

Congratulations on a great accomplishment, Eileen!

I know the feeling as I just finished my latest manuscript about a week ago. This time I didn't get the usual THRILL that typing The End normally gives me. I think it's because I wasn't very happy with the ending.

When I read it over yesterday, it wasn't as cheesy as I thought at first. LOL. Still needs some polishing but that's OK.

Good luck on your new story!!And those pumpkins are great.

Take care,

Sue

Tamara (TC) Staples said...

Congratulations! How awesome to finish a book and just in time for NaNo!! ;-)

quietspirit said...

Eileen:

Congratulations. The one I was able to finish made me feel drained. I asked two of my writing group friends to read it. They edited it and I laid it aside as I felt I needed to take a job. That was almost five years ago. I've done some plays that made me feel drained,as well.

Jennifer Shirk said...

CONGRATS!! That's a huge accomplishment! What a great feeling!

Keli Gwyn said...

Congratulations on completing your manuscript! Hope you celebrated.