At 2:28 PM EST, I wrote the last line of the book. The word count meter for the manuscript will remain in the sidebar until copies reach the pre-submit readers for feedback. Only after implementing the revisions and suggestions, will it reach the 100 percent mark. The meter will return remain in place for one day to reflect that milestone, and then the clock returns to zero; a new project begins.
A couple of thoughts for the day:
1) Writing another novel is possible, even starting a new one as soon as the next few weeks. I’m tired, but not burned out.
2) It’s time for a view bigger than the characters I’ve known for the last thirteen months. While the lessons they taught me were invaluable, looking at the world through another set of eyes is a welcome challenge.
3) Still want that bottle of Tanqueray, but I’m too tired to drink it. Maybe Thursday or Friday.
Congratulations!
It has been a long, hard road, but a productive one.
I await the manuscript.
Thanks EP. Monday, says I.
I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!!!!!! Way to go Sammy!!!!! Now take the vacation u deserve and send me a copy. :^P
hj
Thanks Hippie J. Maybe I’ll just sleep in instead of a vacation. Not sure yet…
Congrats, dude. Take a rest and then get back to work!
CONGRATULATIONS!
Have that Tanqueray, savor the moment, and get some rest. I look forward to reading about whatever comes next.
Ian – thanks. Sound advice. Now what to do to relax? This weekend I’m going hiking, hopefully.
Robert – thanks as well. Towards what’s next, another novel, but I may warm up with a short story. Something around ten to twenty pages that only swallows a few weeks of my life.
Right then, I’m off to the liquor store.
Congratulations!!! That is a huge accomplishment and you should be very proud of yourself.
A short story sounds interesting. You don’t say much about yourself here (or maybe I haven’t read back far enough). Is there anywhere I can read something you’ve written? Have you published any stories?
Day 2 of NaNoWriMo and I’m hanging in there, but this novel writing game is tough. Congratulations again!
Pollster – thanks for the props. You rule.
Robert – self-references and background details are kept as brief as possible. Like characterization, the trick is to mete out enough details for someone to form a mental picture, but not so much that the writer’s own image crowds out the reader’s imagination.
On the sidebar, two of the categories are short stories: Joey Vinny and Jumping the Monkey. Both in first person, they have nothing to do with the just completed novel, which is exactly their purpose. They were written for fun and for a vacation from the book – and the routine of the book – itself. Hopefully, the comic element comes across and gives people a few chuckles.
Keep charing on NaNoWriMo. Momentum is made, not given.