Whew!
Let me just say that again: Whew!
I finally finished revising my very first novel, Summer Chaparral. I have now written an entire novel (97k words) and revised/rewritten the entire thing. I know it’s a small step on the road to publication, but it’s still a step I’ve completed. I put myself on internet silence during the last week or two, just so I could finally be done. Thanks to my handy Excel sheet, I was able to keep myself mostly on track, and finished only two days behind when I thought I would. All in all, it took about two months to do. Considering that I added 20k words to it in that time, and I’m a newbie, I feel pretty pleased with how long it took.
I’m not quite happy with the actual book yet, but I am happier. When I finished it, the best word I could use was content. I was content with it for the moment. However, the more I think about it now, the more I want to go back and re-revise.
I will not be doing that just now though.
What this manuscript needs now is a different pair of eyes. A critique partner, if you will. 🙂 After the first of the year, I will start searching for critique partners, but in the meantime, I’ll be working on building my own critiquing skills. The more I critique now, the more I will have to offer a future critique partner.
So what are my plans until the first of the year?
I’ll be taking a break from writing until Monday, even though I actually really want to DO some writing. But I figure that an enforced vacation will do some good. It will also allow me to do some heavy duty cleaning around here, since I’m starting to nest like crazy.
My next goal is to finish the accompanying novella I have planned, titled The Farmer Takes a Wife, as of now. I want to finish this one by November. Why November? Well, baby #3 is due then (told you I was nesting!), and I want to have it done before then. December will hopefully be the time for revisions if baby #3 and the holidays aren’t too crazy.
Then in the new year? Book #2. I’m really excited to write this book, and the ideas for it are flowing like mad. I also have other big plans in terms of furthering my goal of publication.
But for now, I’ll just enjoy this one little accomplishment. 🙂