IT'S DONE!!!

So that's it. The first draft of my novel is officially complete. Right now, I kinda feel like this:




I still can't believe it's true. In fact, at the moment, I'm still going through my manuscript tweaking bits here and there. I know I shouldn't, I know I should leave it for the edits but I've been working on this book so intensely for the last few weeks, I find it odd that I can finally...switch off.

I do apologise if I keep going on about this - but the fact is, apart from finishing my major project at uni, this is probably the biggest thing I've ever worked on and finished (well, apart from all the editing etc that now needs to happen...but let's not think about that yet...).

Tomorrow, I'm going to celebrate by dying my hair and baking a really really awesome cake. Hopefully it'll turn out like this one, but maybe that's just wishful thinking.

I'm going to have to physically stop myself from looking at my book for a while now - this book has inhabited my mind so long, it's going to be strange not thinking about it every day. Although, I do need to write a sequel...does it defeat the purpose of getting the book 'out of your mind' if I start working on other books in the series...? Hmm...

And when I get back from my break, I have gems like this to edit and clean up:

"She was trying to go as fast as she could, but the sheer amount of people meant she was forced to go slower."

I know, I know - my literary prowess astounds me too.

Anyway. It's getting late (for me). I'm tired. I have been writing solidly for the last twelve hours. I am genuinely losing the ability to type coherent words (I just looked over this post and realised I wrote 'I no' instead of 'I know').

So until next time, happy writing and have an awesome bank holiday weekend, folks!

The light at the end of the tunnel...

I've been having a sick, twisty feeling in my stomach most of the afternoon.

Now, before you start backing away in horror and reaching for the face masks, it's not because I've contracted some kind of lurgy.

It's because I'm *this* close to finishing the first draft of my novel.

I have never gotten so far with one of my novels before, and while it's exhilarating and I can't help thinking of the millions in sales/the 1001 book deals/film deals that are obviously going to come my way the second I publish it, it's also incredibly scary.

I genuinely can't believe I've got this far. I know I'm not at the end of the road yet. I know I've still got a lot of work ahead of me before I can even think about publishing it, but to me, this is a big deal. 

Never before have I actually written the climax of my novel - you know, that epic scene(s) where everything comes crashing down and your MC has to fight for her life, save the one she loves, while defeating the bad guy with the twirly moustache in a battle to the death (if case you hadn't realised it yet, I have a flair for the dramatic...) - or y'know, whatever your novel's equivalent is.

These are the scenes that I've been imagining since the concept for my book first popped into my head. These are the elusive scenes I've been working towards, but never seriously thinking I'd get to. And today, I finally get to write them. The thought makes me want to squeal in excitement, and run away and hide at the same time. Am I up to writing these final scenes? Will I *gasp* actually manage to finish a book??

There's only one way to find out.

I'm not going to be blogging again until my first draft is finished. So you could very well see me in a day, a few days or a few weeks. But however long it takes, my story that started out as a tiny little idea way back in March will finally resemble something that looks like a book. An actual book.

I'll see you on the other side.

On the road again...

Okay, so I know it's been a while since I've last blogged. It's been, what, six months maybe, or more? And I just cannot believe how fast that time has flown in!!

I remember in one of my last posts I wrote about how I'd made some New Year's resolutions that I was determined to stick to - well, let me tell you right now, they haven't happened. But not for the reasons you think (well, ok, maybe part of it IS that I'm still a bit lazy, but anyway, that's beside the point....). So why haven't I accomplished my goals yet?

Simple. Life got in the way. And life just seems to have this funny habit of throwing you into situations that you never ever expected to be in. I'll give you a brief summary:

Basically I quit my job. And I've moved to China. For six months....to teach english.

Yeah I know - a tiny bit of a bombshell! My parents thought the same when I rang them up out of the blue one day and simply said 'mum, dad, I'm moving to China for six months. See you in February.' Trust me on this - that kind of sentence can be a bit of a conversation killer....

Anyway, in regards to my writing, I still don't want to give up. I've actually managed to do a little while I've been out here in Beijing - see, I actually get quite a lot of free time at my job and so I figured, why not use that time to do something useful? Like learning mandarin and writing? (And obviously, planning my english lessons...)

So just in case you were a teensy bit worried about what was happening with me (unlikely I know but, hey, flatter me just this once please :P), that's what's going on with me at the moment. If you want to hear more about my China adventures, you can check out my special TEFL blog here. I'm hoping to get back into the habit of writing on here more - I miss you guys! I miss reading round the blogosphere and see what's happening with other writers, so it's definitely something I'm going to try and keep up with (though we all know how well I keep resolutions!).

Until necxt time, zaijian!

Xx