I only went to bed three hours ago, but when the Boyfriend called this morning on his way to work, I was too excited to go back to sleep.
Why? I finished “Blind Date Bride” early this morning. It was about 5 a.m. After an early night at work (due to the blizzard, we cleared the paper by 9 p.m. — why can’t we do that EVERY night?), I headed back to the house to write.
At first, I sat with the laptop on my lap while I watched TV. Then, at 11 p.m., the satellite dish went out. It was just me, the laptop and iTunes on the computer.
I was on a roll. Since Kelly helped me talk through my Black Moment, and I already knew exactly how I wanted it to end (with a wedding — a real one, to contrast with the TV-network-hosted one at the book’s start), I just kept going … and going … and going.
Like the Energizer Bunny, I wrote, until — at a little before 5 a.m., I thought the momentous words “The End.” 90,300 words, 334 pages double-spaced in Times New Roman.
My question? What do I do now? I’ve been so focused on finishing this thing that I’m at a bit of a loss.
I think I’m going to set it aside for a few days at least, and then give it a good read-through so I can start editing.
Today, since I’m not driving anywhere, I bake! I have several batches of WW-friendly cookies planned. (Originally I’d planned to bake AND write. Maybe I’ll work on one of the other two WIPs on my computer … or start working on that query letter for my GH entry, “Operation Snag Mike Brad.”
So many options … and the rest of the week stretches before me, a “staycation” on my schedule. I’m off through the weekend. Woo-hoo!
I’m up to the part of the book I hate — the dreaded “black moment” where I have to break my characters up just so they can get to their Happily Ever After.
I have two problems with this:
- I like my characters. I love that they’re together and happy. I don’t want to torture them by breaking them apart.
- I’m not quite sure how to get them there. The heroine, having been abused by an ex, has issues with men, especially men of the hero’s size (tall, dark and handsome). Of course he can’t actually hit her, or no one would like him. (Plus, it’d be out of character.) But she has to feel threatened enough to walk out on him.
Aargh! This is the hard part!
With just a little more than 8,000 words to write to hit the 90K mark needed for a single-title contemporary, I’m finding words are just pouring out of my head an onto the page.
Where was all this enthusiasm last week, when I needed it to end the NaNo with a less-pathetic word count?
Oh well. If I can keep this momentum going, I’ll soon be typing the momentous words: “First draft complete!”
How exciting that will be! I’ve never finished a full-length MS before. All my others are category length. I can’t wait.
First up? Setting it aside for a few weeks, at least, before a read-through. In those weeks, I’ll be starting to shop for an agent for “Operation Snag Mike/Brad,” the GH entry.
Now that I’ve decided to get my rear in gear, things are starting to happen for me. How thrilling! 😀
At the beginning of November, I set a personal NaNoWriMo goal of writing the 40,000 words that it would take to finish “Blind Date Bride.”
Well, it’s now the end of the month, and I haven’t written 40K words. I haven’t even written 30K.
However, I’m still considering it a victory. I have more than 25,000 words that I did not have at the beginning of the month, and I’m now just that much closer to having the first draft of “Blind Date Bride” finished.
In fact, I just did the math, and I have just 11,500 words left to get my 90K to make it contemporary single title length. Woo-hoo!
I don’t know how you all write, but my first drafts are mostly pretty good. Some things change, but the bulk of the first draft — from conversations to the action — remains intact. So once I hit that 90K mark, I’m practically golden!
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