Chapter 1

[unforth]

On January 6th 2007, I joined in a community called novel_in_90. Write 750 words a day for 90 days, for a total of 67,500, and poof, you'll have a book. I didn't have time in January. I didn't have time in April - though I tried - when it cycled to round 2. On June 1st, round three started, and I finally had the time to start with it. I wrote steadily, every day just about, but my book wasn't finished in 90 days, though. I wrote 750 or more words a day for 152 days, accepting the days that I missed - about three weeks, total, most write around my move.

Today, I wrote the words "the end" on the last page of my first novel. I'm so happy I'm holding back tears. When I was young, I wanted to be a writer, but as I got older I moved on. I never thought I'd actually finish a novel.

My novel, my first novel, has no title yet, but the file is still called Chapter 1. This was the default "name the file after the first words of the document" title assigned by Word when I started in June. It is 142,387 words long. In the format that I typed it (single spaced, Calibri size 11 type) it is 185 pages. Formatted normally (double spaced, 12 point Times New Roman) it is 411 pages. I have written more words for my novel in the past week than I wrote in the entire month of September. I knew I was almost done. I was so close I could taste it. It is 50,000 words long than my early estimates thought it would be.

Thank you so very much to the people who supported me in doing this, and in particular to all the folks over at novel_in_90 (this will be crossposted there), to my mom, for not telling me to stop even when she had work she needed me to do instead, my dad, who was full of supportive advice, and most especially to swan_tower, for treating me like an equal even though she's a better writer than I think I'll ever be.

The book is a political fantasy. It tells the story of a four friends named Arun Intani, Tairemi Ramin, Toman Lasivian, and Jusanian Terrel. After the death of King Tharad Renda, there is no rightful heir to the throne of Falmeer. Faced with the outbreak of a civil war in their homeland, the four men - all of whom are lawyers apprentices - decide to try the insane in order to avert war: using forged documents and false witnesses, they declare Arun Intani to be the bastard son of King Tharad. From there, it is a game of political maneuvering as the four try to line up enough support among the rival nobles to actually succeed; if they fail, they'll all be killed for treason.

Er...zaniness ensues.

It's not a great novel. I got better as I went, but paging through it, it needs a LOT of work. There are three action scenes in the entire book - it's all talk. But I won't let myself bad mouth it too much, at least not today. Because it's mine, it's all mine, and it's done, the first draft is, and I'm so amazed and stunned and happy that I could burst.

So where do I go from here? Well, I AM a writer. When I get back to the states, I'll be working full time for mom, which means full time as a grant writer. Despite thinking I'd never end up a writer that's exactly what I am.

Despite how much I've written this week, my brain refuses to consider not continuing to write. I've known my line up of future projects for a while now:
Three works in progress: My 1912 Hogwarts Game story; my Changeling diaries, and a collection of poetry I've been working on. The first two have both been on the backburner for about a year, the second for about 6 months.
A Harry Potter fan fic I've joked about with swan_tower, which will tell the tale of how Sirius Black got all those awesome tattoos he displays.

Once those are finished, I have two more novel ideas. One is the novel that this novel was supposed to be, but which I failed to write. The other is the story about the City of Gold and Silver, which I babbled about last month in this LJ post.
But for now, I just can't believe I actually wrote a novel. Hahahaha, I'm done!! I'm done!!

Comments

[sapphohestia.livejournal.com]

Wow. Go you! Congratulations!

*big hugs*

[unforth.livejournal.com]

::hug::

And a giant bouquet of flowers, too! Thanks! ;)

[akashiver.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! Just think, most novels started in America are never finished, so you're already ahead of the game. :)

[unforth.livejournal.com]

I keep tellin' myself that. It was one of my life goals to finish a novel some day, and it's nice that "some day" ended up being when I'm young enough that nothin' at all stops me from going ahead and...writing another. ;)

And thanks! ;)

[ninja-turbo.livejournal.com]

Congrats! Finishing a novel is a marvelous accomplishment. :D

One thread of novel wisdom would say for you to treat yourself to something nice, put the manuscript in a drawer for a month (preferably while still writing, working on one of those other projects), then come back for revisions.

[unforth.livejournal.com]

I went out and had a calorie fest - for my permanently dieting self, that's one of the best gifts I can have, a guilt free hamburger, french fries, and a slice of cheese cake. And it was wonderful. ;)

Thanks for the advice - a part of me kind of wanted to start editing immediately, but more of me wants to hide the manuscript in a drawer - a very deep drawer - and never look at it again. I think a month sounds like a good compromise. ;)

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

That is awesome. You really have achieved something most people talk about but never do.

[unforth.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :)

[schenker28.livejournal.com]

So proud of you!

[unforth.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :)