After NaNoWriMo

That’s it, NaNoWriMo is over. My wordcount on the 30th of November was 71,434 words (I estimate that the completed first draft will be around 85,000 words) and I only have three chapters left to write. 

I am both elated and exhausted and eager to write the final words of The Orchid Collector. NaNoWriMo has allowed me to do in one month what took me YEARS for my debut novel. 

When I was writing the first draft of As Winter Came and Went, I only picked up my pen when inspiration struck. I could go for weeks, months even without writing a single word. I didn’t even know if I would actually finish it one day or just give up, like I gave up on so many projects. Well, I didn’t give up but there were about five years between writing the first words and publishing the book. 

And now, after thirty days, I am 15,000 words away from the end of my manuscript. And this is so exciting! Of course, this first draft is awful. Parts are incoherent. It will need months of editing. It may need a total rewrite. The style is sloppy in part. Most of the secondary characters are just cardboard. And to be honest, I am a bit fed up with it. But you know what? Once it is finished, making this first draft into a proper novel will be the fun part: I like editing, refining, working with words, trying to create the perfect sentence. 

And even if this manuscript isn’t very good, by taking part in NaNoWriMo, I have proved to myself that I could write every day. That I could take this writing thing seriously. That I could churn out chapter after chapter. And more importantly, I have learnt to not wait for inspiration: I produced about 2,000 words a day, even if I did not feel like it. Because that is what this challenge is about: pushing your limits, and getting the writing done. 

Could I do it the whole year round? No. But I will try to use the momentum this challenge gave me to finish The Orchid Collector and maybe another project. I will try to write the last chapters in the next couple of weeks, and then I will let the manuscript rest for a while. I have already made a list of details, scenes and characters I want to change, but I will wait, to look at it all from a distance. I also have more research to do, historical and otherwise, in order to flesh out the manuscript and make the story more realistic. So yes, lots of work ahead. 

But now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got three more chapters to write!

"The bog of..."

I'm currently writing the middle part of my NaNoWriMo project The Orchid Collector. And it feels a bit like wading through a swamp... But I trudge on. I am determined that this first draft will not join my collection of unfinished manuscripts. Even if it is written very badly, it will get written! 

My book of cartoons, The Would-Be Novelist, published last week, is available on Amazon: 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1702470016?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860

"Editing the first draft..."

Some of you may remember this cartoon. It is the very first one I created, about a year ago.
Because of the book I am going to publish, I made several cartoons which I am not going to publish on this blog, so they can remain original. So I thought that, from time to time, I could repost old ones. I hope you don't mind!

"Writing the first draft..."

There's a reason why one of the pieces of advice given to would-be novelists is to leave their first draft rest for a few weeks before looking at it again...

"Re-reading your handwritten manuscript..."

Having an awful, illegible handwriting means that your manuscripts are sort of safe from prying eyes... It's more bothering, however, when you realise you cannot reread what you've written either! 

"From Mt First Draft to Mt Editing"

 

 

Writing is as relaxing and refreshing as taking a walk in a mountain-range. Climbing steep slopes. As a storm brews. As snow starts to fall. As you get lost in a forest. As you reach the top of a mountain and realise there's another, bigger one to cross. But when you reach the top and enjoy the view, isn't it worth all the difficulties?