Stage two. STAGE TWO! Can you believe it? I wrote a book. A whole book, all the way to the conclusion!
I think I’m more excited now than I was last week. It’s finally really sinking in, and my excitement has grown. This thing is finished! It is complete enough to be doing revisions. I had actually given up on getting here. I have had so many attempts that I never finished. I kind of thought that was my thing–think of a story, do some planning, write some of it, move on to the next. But now I have actually completed a novel (okay, novella for now).
I gave myself a couple of days off, and now I am following my plan and reading at least four pages a day and making notes. I’m trying to not think about how I will fix the things I’m making notes on. It’s working some of the time.
I was a little worried that I would have a hard time keeping on the four-page schedule, but so far I’m finding it pretty easy. I even did six pages yesterday. I think I really will be finished with this part by the end of the year. And I’m going to wait until this part is finished before I plan for what comes next. Small steps, small steps!
Sometimes setting the “finished” product aside for a set time helps(there are a lot of pros who suggest 3 months, but that may not work for you… something to test on your own).
Really, unless you’ve set a release date you’ve got some time to play with. Give yourself a few days to just savor the moment. Even though there WILL be more books, it’s not a feeling that can be easily repeated. Firsts rarely are…
Eden, I am planning to let it rest for several weeks (not planning on three months, though) after I do these notes I’m currently working on. I wanted to get to them right away (although I did give myself a nice four-day weekend after NaNo) because I want to remember the parts where I thought as I wrote “oh, I need to go back to such-and-such section and add in info about this.” I figure those places will be easier to seek out and find while things are still fresh (ish) in my mind.
And nothing ever is quite like the first one, is it?
Yay for making it to the next stage! Good luck with the read through and future edits!
Thank you, Fallon!