Done. Wait, let me say that again:
DONE.
80,000 words of PURE GENIUS. Yeah: 80,000… despite word counts of more than 2k new stuff per day yesterday and today. I took out a lot of faffing about, especially from the beginning. And here we see the problem with the Pantsing Method: when I started writing this book I had no clue at all where it was going. I wrote a lot of scenes that ended up being character background–worthwhile work for me, but not stuff that really needs to be in the final version, as it has the effect of slowing down the action.
So I actually have a 20-item list of things to fix in the next draft, but they feel like next-draft things: strengthening certain thematic threads, punching up some of the action scenes, reading through the dialogue to improve the voices (something I seem to have a problem getting right out of the gate). It’s possible there are continuity issues, because I haven’t done a proper date-map yet. And it’s even possible there will be a character streamlining–I have a few secondary people who all seem to be doing the same job.
But the important thing is that this draft has an ending. I wrote it today. I cried. It’s a happy ending! That’s a new thing for me!
Fave sentence: “Gavin kissed him on the mouth, standing across their threshold. And deep below the parking garage, the concrete caissons of the apartment building shook against the surrounding clay.”
Why is it my fave? Because it’s the last one.
