Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Still here!

Still writing! Still working! Still not much time for blogging. :)

You guys, I can see the next few bits of SALVAGED! The fog cleared away this morning, and it's fairly clear. And since I'm almost at 40k and my goal for the rough draft is about 50-55k...

I can *almost* see The End.

For seat-of-the-pants writers like me, this is thrilling. I never know The End until I actually write it, or just before. If things have worked as they should on first draft, The End will seem a natural, though not obvious, conclusion to all that came before. It will tie in pieces I laid down without thinking much about them, resolve plot arcs big and small, and be satisfying.

Of course there also will be bits that don't fit, characters that didn't arc right or are still flat because I didn't know what to do with them yet, whole sections of plot that consist of characters talking to each other and not much else, and all that will have to be cleaned up. Second draft is when I make it a book.

But first draft endings are magical. :)

I predict you won't be seeing much of me in December. Excuse me while I finish this book.

2 comments:

Kimberly Joy Peters said...

I totally agree with the joy of discovering "the end" only when you get there. I HATE being asked to outline -- it's like having to pack for a vacation when you've got luggage restrictions and you don't know where you're going. So much better to take the credit card along and find things as you need them.

Susan Adrian said...

Kimberly: Ha. I'm an obsessive over-packer, actually. But for books, I guess I find what I need when I get there!!