Belinda Kroll

First Draft B Complete

The title of this post says it all, but here are some details.

Saturday night, I couldn’t focus on homework. So instead, I daydreamed about my novel. At midnight, I decided I would tape the show I had been staying up to watch so I could write, instead. By three in the morning, I had a draft of the last chapter that I liked better than the six other half-starts I’d saved in the file, and the other almost fully-drafted chapter that I had in my paper journal.

Sunday morning, I woke up to re-read the chapter and found I still liked it. A good sign.

This morning, I woke up, re-read the chapter, still like it (with some slight tweaking), and have decided that at long last (a little over a year), First Draft B is complete at 99,896 words, 41 chapters.

Suffice to say that chapters will be cut and others fleshed a bit. I really want this book to be under 300 pages, as my previous book was a whopping 384 pages without any author notes or anything. This book, at 345 pages, has author notes, acknowledgements, and a selected bibliography… so I’m on the right track, at least.

I have the glow of triumph about me.

How are your works-in-progress coming along?

Posted in About WritingTagged 13 Comments

13 thoughts on “First Draft B Complete”

  1. *applauds wildly*

    By my predictions, I'm just under halfway through my first rewrite. At the rate I've been going lately, I should have this draft done with in just under three months. Bleh. Then comes rewrite #2…

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  2. Three months! Wow, you're getting down to the wire!! (Does anyone know the origins of this phrase?) That's excellent.

    This is my first re-rewrite… I had First Draft A, printed it out, shoved it under my bed. Started from scratch for First Draft B. Now, I'm going to edit First Draft B. So I guess my edit correlates to your rewrite #2? 🙂

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  3. Probably? I'm going to rewrite about half of the book all over again from scratch, but I am going to keep the decent parts of the novel intact. There are also some POV issues, some villain refinement (I'm doing a 'villain month event thingy in June), and… yeah. I've got a lot of work to do.

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  4. *applauds wildly*

    By my predictions, I’m just under halfway through my first rewrite. At the rate I’ve been going lately, I should have this draft done with in just under three months. Bleh. Then comes rewrite #2…

    Like

  5. Three months! Wow, you’re getting down to the wire!! (Does anyone know the origins of this phrase?) That’s excellent.

    This is my first re-rewrite… I had First Draft A, printed it out, shoved it under my bed. Started from scratch for First Draft B. Now, I’m going to edit First Draft B. So I guess my edit correlates to your rewrite #2? 🙂

    Like

  6. Probably? I’m going to rewrite about half of the book all over again from scratch, but I am going to keep the decent parts of the novel intact. There are also some POV issues, some villain refinement (I’m doing a ‘villain month event thingy in June), and… yeah. I’ve got a lot of work to do.

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  7. Oh wow. That does sound like a lot. But if you have the passion for it, then that's what matters most.

    I'm actually very interested in your villain month. I've debated joining myself, though I have a pretty solid understanding of my villain… but I'll definitely watch and see what people come up with!

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  8. Oh wow. That does sound like a lot. But if you have the passion for it, then that’s what matters most.

    I’m actually very interested in your villain month. I’ve debated joining myself, though I have a pretty solid understanding of my villain… but I’ll definitely watch and see what people come up with!

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  9. Fair enough… though I wouldn't have any problem if you mentioned it to any of your other writing buddies, or stayed on for a few days with a henchman/underling. 🙂 I've got three others participating so far, and I'd love to see more.

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  10. Fair enough… though I wouldn’t have any problem if you mentioned it to any of your other writing buddies, or stayed on for a few days with a henchman/underling. 🙂 I’ve got three others participating so far, and I’d love to see more.

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  13. Pingback: Villain Month » Worderella Writes

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