Finishing the first draft was an anticlimax... and that's a good thing.
Typing 'the end' at last... and what comes after
Last week was pretty momentous for me… I finally typed those words on my manuscript: the end. Fellow novelists will know what that feeling is like. The sense of accomplishment is a pretty great high. Except, it doesn’t last. For me, this time round, that great feeling lasted all of five minutes.
Partly that was because the first people I told were my kids, who were honestly more interested in the film they were watching (though, said film did give me the couple of hours I needed to finish the thing in the first place). Partly it was because I was pretty drained after that final push (the giving birth analogy isn’t entirely off). But mostly it was because I simply didn’t feel like celebrating… and I’ve realised, that was a good thing.
Yes, this was quite an accomplishment, to write 72,000 words of anything. But I was aiming for around 80,000 words, so in one sense it felt incomplete to my completer-finisher personality type. Oh, I could have stretched out the ending a bit futher, or added in an extra scene before my climax, but I knew that would be padding. So the first mark of this feeling being a good thing is that I knew even before I’d finished that I needed to add more content towards the beginning. As I progressed it became clear that I’d under-written the beginning in my excitement to get stuck in. This awareness of how my writing has changed is definitely a good sign.
The second reason this feeling of anticlimax is a good thing is that I know the hard work is really just beginning. Writing a first draft is kind of like dating. You’re just getting to know your characters, finding out who they are, what’s formed them, and their idiosyncrasies. Editing is more like marriage. The initial rush of feelings has gone, and you’re now doing daily life together. A marriage takes work to become something good. The same goes for editing a book. But here’s the thing: editing is my favourite part. This is where you already have something to work with, you know your characters now, and you can really get stuck in to making this piece exactly what you want it to be.
The feeling that quickly took over my sense of achievement after I wrote ‘the end’ was excitement to get to the good bit. I know it’s wise to get a bit of distance before I delve into editing, but I’m super keen to roll up my sleeves and get stuck into this! So, yes, finishing my first draft has been an anticlimax. I didn’t buy a bottle of champagne, or even bake a cake. Hey, I didn’t even put the kettle on— after all, I’d just finished the world’s largest cup of tea. But that’s a good thing. I’m saving the celebration for when I am ready to query. And daydreaming about that query success and the submission success… that’s what’ll keep me going on the days editing feels hard.
How about you? What’s been your experience of finishing a first draft? Let us know in the comments!
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It took a while to get my head around it! But now I see it more clearly. Good to give my heroine a longer growth arc.
I hear this! Finished what I thought was half of my first draft… hearing from critique partners that it was, in fact, the end of book one… and that I most certainly was writing a series… well! :)
Still, these moments are worth sharing with other writers. The first draft feels like a rough diamond; so much potential, and hard won slowly chipping it out of our subconscious.