First Draft = Step One

Late last night I finished the first draft of my latest novel. While it may be retitled later on I'm calling it Fox Hunt at the moment. When that last sentence was finally typed and I realized I had finally gotten the entire story down I felt a sense of joy and relief. Getting a story down on paper or in a word processor takes the longest for me. For the most part that first draft is the real trail. It's the telling of the story and everything that comes after is just refining the story so that readers can understand.

When I joyfully gave my husband a kiss and told him the story was wrote, he smiled and said, "Cool. So you're almost there." I understood what he was saying completely. After six years of watching my creative process he knows what's next. The horrors of revision and edits. The long nights of "does this sound right" are about to start. Once I do a first pass over the first draft to clean it a little my husband will get a copy. It's at that point that I really get to relax and await his response to the story. I'm always ready to hear what he has to say, and trust me he questions any and everything he doesn't understand.

So last night as I bask in the glory of finishing that first draft I couldn't help but dread the next step. The rewriting, the revisions and the polishing. I love taking that first step towards story telling, but there are many steps left to take. Thankfully, like with many things in life, it's step one that always takes the most time to prepare and finish.

Happy reading everyone and I'll see you again in the new year!