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Tag Archives: first draft

Burning the midnight oil…

01 Friday Apr 2022

Posted by la Clarina in Scribbling

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first draft, writing, writing at night

Midnight – and rather later, in fact, because it was half past three in the morning when I added the last word to Draft 1 of ATP, Tom Walsingham’s second foray into espionage and sleuthing. Hooray!

And then it wasn’t really the last word, of course. You all know how it is: as soon as I’d saved the thing and done a back-up, I had to open it again and add one more little paragraph, and then a little later an idea occurred to me, and I jotted it down in the notebook, and by then I was wide awake anyway, far too excited to sleep, so I could have gone another hour without great difficulty – but the fact was, Draft 1 was finished, and it was well past four, so I went to bed, and found that I could sleep after all… Continue reading →

I made it! I did it!

02 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by la Clarina in Scribbling

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first draft, historical novel, revision

The-endAnd so… Sunday night around four in the morning… Yes, well: technically it was Monday morning, but still: I finished my first draft – and glory be.

Well, I may have cheated a little, and the last-but-one chapter is a tad disconnected, and the last one is more a loose collection of scenes and questions, begging – amongst other things – to be split in two… And the ending doesn’t have a very definite shape yet.

But hey: it’s a first draft. That’s what first drafts are for, isn’t it? And I finished it.

Hooray.

Now, if all goes well, I mean to let it rest for a whole month. I’m told a month is the TheEnd2time required to grow a fresh pair of eyes, very handy for revision. And it’s true: I don’t have the sense God gave to small green apples, and I’m dreadful at keeping good intentions… On the other hand, I have a good deal of work waiting for me, and books to read, and I’ll have to make it up to all the people I shamefully neglected these past five months – so perhaps my June will be so full that I will have no time to even think of the novel…

So: until July, novel.

But I confess, I’ll miss the heady rush of this last week. Between Saturday and Sunday I wrote some 7500 words – a whole lot for me. It may have been all a little haphazard, but how very exhilarating. Scenes followed scenes, and new ideas, and possibilities, and detours kept cropping up… It may seem far ideal, when one is trying to conclude as fast as possible, but it was quite heady. Theend1b

Also, it gives me a good headway towards revision, a whole new way to tighten up the middle, and a few threads I want to pursue back – if that makes sense… Oh.

See? There I am, musing on revision already!

Ah well – but this is for July. Right now, let me bask in the afterglow: I’ve finished the first draft.

Writingwritingwriting

26 Tuesday May 2015

Posted by la Clarina in Scribbling

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Debbie Ridpath Ohi, first draft, last sprint, Will Write for Chocolate

Having decided to finish my first draft by the end of May, and the end of May suddenly being less than a week away, I’m writingwritingwriting.

And getting little sleep, and neglecting family and friends, and working at weird hours… Continue reading →

Clara, the Dithering Scribbler

09 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by la Clarina in Scribbling

≈ 4 Comments

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first draft, historical novel, narrative choices, writing

writerIt’s becoming clear that my novel doesn’t proceed as smoothly as I hoped – at least, not since I hit the 45000-words mark.

After that there was London, and after London there was a snag, and after the snag there was Easter, with a bunch of relatives and guests descending on us, and after Easter… Continue reading →

Wrong Side

19 Thursday Feb 2015

Posted by la Clarina in History, Scribbling

≈ 2 Comments

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Agas map, Bishopsgate, first draft, historical novel, Holborn, London

BishopsgateBishopsgate.

Bishopsgate.

Bishopsgate, damn it – not Holborn. Bishopsgate.

I seem to suffer from a curious affliction that makes me read “Bishopsgate” and understand “Holborn.” Repeatedly. For weeks – and, what’s worse, for chapters. Continue reading →

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