I did it! I wrote an entire cozy mystery novel, start to finish! It’s done!!
Well . . . let’s back up for a moment and add a few important caveats. I haven’t actually published anything, and I’m far from done with this novel (for details about the project, see previous posts, particularly Introducing Beyond). But, having said that — every step forward is a victory, however small!
And truthfully, I’m especially jazzed about this particular step because a) I never thought I’d actually write a mystery novel (fantasy, yes, but mystery always seemed scarily complex) and b) I just really love this project and the way it came together and c) I wrote the last half-dozen chapters in a series of sprints (that is, entire afternoons where I was insensible to anything else) so my grip on “the real world” is still a bit hazy. 🙂
Also, even though I am the kind of writer who starts with an outline, follows that outline, updates that outline, is never without their outline — hitting the end of this novel surprised me a bit. I thought it’d take me through the end of the month to finish the story. Of course, the surprise factor can be partially explained by the fact that this draft is about 10k words short of where I want the novel to be . . . but I knew at about the halfway mark that I was going to come up short. I think it’s the beginning that needs those extra words. I have to go back and add a certain character and explain a few gadgets and I always have to put in more world-building in the second draft and . . .
But this isn’t the time for that! Now is the time for a break from the novel. I’m excited about the story and even about the edits, which most authors I’ve followed admit is the hardest, most grueling part of the process. But I’m making myself set aside the draft for a moment. I want to give it time — maybe until February — before I go back and start Draft 2. In the past, I’ve found that space helps me really see the story in a new light. Plus, it gives my brain a break.
Pinterest regularly feeds me self-help/self-affirming posts along the lines of “make sure you’re taking time for you” and “be gentle with yourself” and “be grateful for small things” and so on, usually enhanced with cute graphics. I think that sentiment can feel a bit overplayed today sometimes, but that doesn’t change the fact that I believe it 100%. Especially with something like writing — a very internal and at times isolating process — I do think it’s important to recognize accomplishments and let myself be happy about them. Because really, if that approval doesn’t come from me, who else is there? Even if I were a highly successful author, I wouldn’t be sharing my first drafts with the public and garnering tons of praise for them. It’s a very personal victory.
So here I’m celebrating in my own personal way with fireworks graphics, lots of exclamation points, pop music, and soon, a decadent dessert. 🙂 Tomorrow, work resumes!
