As of 3:42 pm, this very afternoon, I am a novelist. Albeit not a published novelist. But a I-have-completed-a-first-draft-of-a-novel novelist. In fact, it is so far from being something publishable that I’m not sure I’ll ever choose to revise it. But I didn’t give up on it. I finished it. I’d started others. And there they sit, languishing in their files. But not this one. For the first time in my life, I gutted it out and finished the whole story.
Making it publishable it what revision is for, right?
Kristy Dempsey 
Congratulations! I hope you intend to celebrate, because that is indeed a major accomplishment.
Revision is its own creature, but you’ve done that which makes revision possible.
Good on ya!
Well, revision is for the future. 🙂 I’ll tackle it sometime but for now I’m giving it a rest.
Hooray! That’s a huge deal!
Congrats to you too! You recently finished one, didn’t you?
Yes, 3 days ago! I’ve actually edited it a little since then…but am trying to let it sit for a bit to clear my head!
Finishing a novel is a huge accomplishment. Congratulations!
Aww, shucks, it’s just a first draft. But I have tried to stay engaged for so three other books that just didn’t go anywhere. I’m glad to have made it through a whole story.
Wow, that’s incredible! Seriously, so few people actually finish a book they’ve started. Congratulations on your hard work and perserverene. You’re my new role model. 🙂
Ha! No role model here. Who knows if I can do it again? But I’m going to try. I already have an idea for a YA I’m working on. This first draft is going to sit for a while until I can figure out how to make it non-derivative and no longer first draft drivel.
Finishing is always something to be celebrated. Go, you!!
Thanks! We’ve got to celebrate the baby steps!
Yay!! Celebrate, and then put that baby aside for a while. When you come back, you’ll appreciate parts of it that are wonderful and be ready to tackle the parts that need work. And one more time…YAY!! Congratulations!
I’ve put it aside already. A lot of it needs work, so it will be nice to find wonderful parts when I come back to it.
Congratulations! Isn’t it an amazing feeling? And, please, please give yourself the chance to revise. The first I finished a book, I wrote the whole thing in a week (long story, but true!). Last summer, I sent the revised (and revised and revised) manuscript to agents and, while I didn’t get accepted, I got enough compliments that I’m back at it again.
And, believe me, it was SO not good that first time!
Go for it.
Well, mine is definitely in the not so good camp. But if I ever come back to it and see any glimmers, I’ll consider revising!
WhooHooo! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good for you!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks. You’ve read a snippet of this one…the Southern boy novel. But I’m gonna put it aside for a while. I’m glad I pushed through and finished. I just needed to know I could do it. Maybe I’ll revise one day.
I was hoping it was that one. I’m happy when true Southerners write Southern novels. That one had great voice, what I saw of it.
WooHOOO! Cheering for you!
Thank you. It seems more doable now.
Congrats on your newly acquired status: novelist!!! It’s daunting, isn’t it?
It’s crazy. It’s a learning process. I hope my next one is a little more polished by the end of the first draft. Not that it won’t need revision. But there were parts on this one where I was just pushing through. It’ll make for lotsofun if I ever revise it. 🙂
You did it!!
I knew you could!
NOW you can go read Cheryl Klein’s notes on story versus plot. 🙂
Yay! Thank you! The funny thing is that I opened them up as soon as I finished. I remembered!
And already this is one of my favorite lines from one of her talks on plot:
“And you should never worry about plot until your second draft.”
Yes! That is exactly why I wanted you to wait. 🙂
Congrats! That first accomplishment is incredibly rewarding. 🙂
At least I know I can do it!
THE END! Two of the most beautiful words in any language. Even though it’s the first draft with more ahead, this is quite an accomplishment. Congratulations.
Ooo, I forgot to type “the end”!
Wow.
Bowing down.
Take champagne and chocolate into the bath, my dear….
I would, except we just have showers. I could sit on the edge. How quickly does chocolate melt in steam? Maybe I’ll take strawberries too?
It must feel great!
It must feel great! I’ve been working on a novel on and off since 2002 and just can’t find the end. Finally, I broke my toe and thought I had found some time to finish it, but my doctor cleared me this week. Hopefully, I’ll finish it soon. Congratulations to you! I know revision is tough. I’ve rewritten my first chapter numerous times, but I think I’ve finally got it.
Congrats again.
Chad Sanders
chadasanders3@yahoo.com
Re: It must feel great!
Thanks, Chad! Yes, gogogo and finish your novel. I actually realized once I was nearing the end that I knew what I needed to do to revise. It’s like it all came together.
YAYYYYYYYY!!!
Thank youuuuuuuuu!
Hooray for my friend, THE NOVELIST!
That’s weird sounding. 🙂 No-ve-list. Wow.
Re: WOOOOHOOooooooOO
I’m luxuriating in starting a whole new novel while this one sits on the back burner. In fact, I wanted to give up on it so many times so I could start the next one, but then the next one would have been my first finished novel…and I didn’t want that to happen. So I suffered through finishing the first one, so the next one wouldn’t be the first. Ha! Did you get all that? 🙂