Now I am Done

Ahh… Done. That feels really nice. I have finished the novel, written the last chapter, crossed every last T and dotted all my Is. I could have been done a lot sooner if I had just done it. Without the intense need to write that NaNoWriMo creates however, I just can’t seem to focus the same way. I let myself do other things…

In any case, it’s done. Well… Having now come to the end I see that there a couple passages that need major expansion. One got skipped over just in the rush to finish. I thought I would get around to at least following up in a later chapter. That did happen, but it’s still not certain enough for me. Now I have to go back and insert the actual event so that we know what happens to Articka. Her final chapter kind of ends in the middle of mayhem of the last battle. I think I need to be explicit about what happens to her in the aftermath. She’s one of my main characters and hers is the only story that just stops. As is fitting an alien in an alien novel she has to survive in some form so that there are still aliens around for the sequel.

Sequel? Yes. Now that I have written all this stuff, I have so many ideas that didn’t quite make it in or ideas that clearly follow from the things I describe in this novel. I think I could do two or three more stories with some of the threads I’ve laid down here. That’s great! But first things first. I’m going to insert that one passage about Articka and include some more of Meghin’s reflections on the events of the book in her final chapter. After that I will let the thing mellow before I consider looking at it to do a revision. I already see problems with this draft, but I can’t tackle them all so soon. Let it mellow in my mind and then come back to it in a month is what everyone advises.

So next? I’ve got plenty of other novels I can start writing. I think if I can manage to do 800 words a day or a couple typed pages, I’ll be able to finish another novel in a couple months here. There’s the one about the trader who gets caught up in a clash of empires, there’s the one about how the Atlantis is connected to South American and Greek mythology, there’s the one about Beowulf and the one about the further adventures of Julias Rodman. So many ideas. Where to begin?

Something, Something

So now that I don’t have a deadline of any sort looming over me I am much less motivated to write. I’ve taken a few days off completely. Maybe too many days off… Anyway, today I got back to it. Because of course while I passed the 50k mark, my story isn’t done yet. I’m working on chapter twenty-one right now. It’s something of a conclusion and a wrap-up chapter. It will be the last from Pyotr’s point of view. It’s been one of my themes (at least in theory) to have Pyotr be the thinker and for all of his chapters to reflect that. He’s physically static but not mentally. When trying to decide how his story will end I decided that he needs to finally step up and take some action. He fires a gun! Also he defuses a stand off between some of the survivors left around from the massive battle in chapter nineteen (The fact that the heavy hits in chapter nineteen has nothing to do with the fact that I’m reading The Dark Tower right now. This isn’t sarcasim, either. It just worked out that it’s chapter nineteen. If you don’t know what I’m talking about: go read it!). There is still some stuff to finish up. He’s leaving in this chapter, so he’s got to say goodbye to Meghin. I’m not sure how that conversation is going to go. I’ve heard writers say that sometimes sections “write themselves.” After this November, I know what they mean. I hope that this conversation “writes itself.” I certainly don’t know how to write the two of them saying goodbye to each other…

No word count: I don’t have to worry about that anymore (well, not until next November).