End of the road (Photo credit: benuski)

Today I finished the first draft of my WIP.  I would happy dance, but I’m too drained.  I feel like I’ve been wrung out and run over by a truck.  Wouldn’t be so bad if you would be so kind as to hold off on throwing it in reverse and running me down again.

It’s been too long since I’ve done this.  Funny, I remember it feeling…different, when I’ve completed first drafts before.  More yippee! and less holy shit, I’m going to spend forever in revisions!  Forcing myself to push through and keep writing until I had a complete draft was a good thing, but it leaves me looking at a lot more work that *needs* to be done.

For every manuscript, I have a corresponding composition book.  This is where I first begin notes; character sketches, motivation, plot lines, rough outline, and a quick sentence or two for every scene as I go along.  It’s also where I write down ideas I want to revisit, possible plot holes, thoughts for details to enhance Chapter 6 when I’m already in Chapter 14.  So going back to edit and revise, not a new concept.  I’ve got plenty of notes, ideas, and questions to address.  But I’m going to have to look very carefully at my female main character in the second half of the manuscript.

Tragic (Photo credit: Tanya Dawn)

There’s a scene at the end where she’s wondering if she’s about to get dumped, and as I was writing it, part of me was thinking, “Yes!  For the love of God, dump her!  She’s a great big yawn.”  I’m no expert, but that isn’t a good sign.  I’m definitely going to have to look at what happened to her in that second half.

For the next few days, though, I’m not even going to open the file.  Maybe I’ll rest.  Or give Little Incredibly Dumb Dog a bath.  Then I should be able to start catching up with the blogging friends on my blog roll.  Soon enough, I’ll be out of Purgatory and into Revision Hell.

El Purgatorio (1890). Óleo sobre tela 339 x 256 cm. GAN.Cararas – Venezuela. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)