As I announced on June 1 to readers of my monthly newsletter (fill out the pop-up box on this site to subscribe), I finished the first draft of my current work-in-progress last week. On May 29, to be precise, which is exactly one year after I published When Heart Shall Fail.
Of course, this is only the first draft, and the editing and formatting process is likely to take another year. Maybe less, if I’m lucky, but at least the rest of 2024.
Most of my first drafts have only taken me six months to write, and I drafted 95,000 words on the first draft of Safe Thus Far during NaNoWriMo in 2020. So I know I can write faster than I’ve managed on my current work-in-progress. Still, I also know that I have a lot of personal matters on my plate this year, and I am just happy to have a draft (finally) to work with. I find it much easier to rewrite than to get the first draft on paper.
This draft is over 132,000 words, and most of my published novels have been between 118,000 and 125,000. Plus, I still have a few scenes to plug in to prepare for events that developed later in the book. That means I have plenty of room to cut words, which is good, because my critique group says the draft has some repetitive material in it.
I don’t think I have any major plot holes or timeline issues in this first draft, as I have had with other novels. (But then, how can I remember what I wrote a year ago? I may well turn up some serious problems as I read through it.)
All of the above means that I have lots to do to sculpt this novel into publishable form.
As I have written before, this is likely to be the last book in the historical fiction series I have written about Mac McDougall and Jenny Calhoun and their friends and relations. I’ll post some other time in detail about why I feel finished with this series. For now, I will simply say that this is the seventh book in the series and takes place a quarter-century after the first novel, Lead Me Home. I have said what I want to say about these characters, and the novel I am working on now feels like it completes their saga.
Maybe I will change my mind—who knows?
But for now, I will stay focused on editing the book I have drafted. That will keep me plenty busy for the next six to twelve months.
Just wish me good luck and good writing time!
