I Finished the Book

Sounds unreal, doesn’t it? Feels unreal too. Well, it’s still a long way till my book is fully ready, but for now, I’ve completed the first draft. The story is told. Now I will start re-reading it and editing.

I want to rewrite the beginning because it was written six years ago and needs to be tweaked. There are a few other things that I will slightly change or add, and I need to beef up the ending. I feel like I rushed through it to just get it done, and maybe it was the right approach. At least now I have put it all down on paper and will work with a finished manuscript. I am so excited.

It’s been six years. I’ve had two kids. I’m not going to lie; it did set me back a lot. My sister was right when she told me to finish it before I had kids. I was naive thinking I would have more time during maternity leave. Reality is, I’ve never had less time in my life.

But. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, and it feels even more rewarding now to have been able to finish it despite the lack of time.

My first draft came to 91,849 words. My initial goal was 100k but it’s just an estimate and I’m going to add a few things anyway during editing, so it might get there. I have also come to realise that my novel is in the Young Adult genre, which actually requires 80-100k words, so it’s all working out well.

I still haven’t decided on the name and really struggle with it. I have a working title, it’s called “The Dead Garden” but that doesn’t sound exciting at all. So, I will leave it for now until I come up with something better.

Initially I wanted to publish my book here chapter by chapter as I was writing it. Apparently, lots of self-publishing authors do that. But then I quickly came to realise that the novel will end up quite sloppy and maybe even incoherent, because I wouldn’t be able to go back and tweak anything. So, it’ll be a bit more of a wait, but hopefully that means a better final outcome.

I realise it’s been a few years since I posted anything here, but if anyone is reading this – thank you for being here with me and caring about my dream. If there is one thing I want to achieve – it is to write a book, and I am so close to fulfilling it.

You are never too old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream.

C.S. Lewis