Today has been a great day – both as for the writing and the rest of it. This morning I had one of the best writing sessions for a long time yet. I finished the novel that I am working on. That is I finished the basic structure of it, meaning that I have written all the scenes that I am going to write. I have been working on it – more or less intensively – since November 2010 so I have been looking forward to this day. All that is left now, which of course is a whole lot, is to flesh out the scenes that I have written too fast to make sure that I captured the story, improve continuity (it’s a quite complicated narrative, so this will take some time) and generally edit a lot. Once I have finished that process I will read it in its entirety, preferably in one sitting. Edit again. Then I will have my most trusted readers try it out and get their feedback. Then I will edit again and again and again.
Still I do believe it is worthy of a small celebration to have a completed the first draft. And I was crying my eyes out as I wrote the final two scenes of the book as it was a bit like saying goodbye to the characters. I will be spending a lot more time with them yet but the story is now set, they will no longer do the wonderfully surprising things that characters sometimes do that require an interesting plot twist or change the story completely. I am so sentimental about my writing and I love that!
Our great postman (who knows everybody – we’re in the countryside after all) delivered my latest stack of books from Amazon. I have already read the first book out loud to my son this afternoon: Neil Gaiman: Instructions. It is awesome, a very quick and short read but a wonderful and very inspiring story. I’m actually contemplating writing my own version, a set of instructions, just for fun, sometime soon. I’m very inspired by other people right now, trying out things. As for instance my version of an Erin Morgenstern inspired tale earlier on the blog. It’s a lot of fun to try out writing different things. This is of course especially the case when you sometimes feel stuck on a certain big writing project. But I am no longer stuck. Now it’s on to work on the second draft and I am so excited about that!
I also have the rest of the new stack of books to look forward to:
Philip Pullman: The Firework-Maker’s Daughter. I think it was my brother, a great Pullman fan, as am I, who told me that this was an awesome story.
Anna Sewell: Black Beauty. I want to read something to my son that I remember fondly from my own childhood. I was very much into horses when I was a girl and had my own horses so of course I loved this story. I hope it is as good as I remember!
Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden. I have never read it but it sounds fabulous.
Brian Selznick: The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Having lived in Paris for a while I am looking so much forward to reading this story. It sounds magical.
Alain de Botton: The Architecture of Happiness. Until reading The Art of Travel I wasn’t really a fan of de Botton. I have a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and tried to read his Consolations of Philosophy but it really couldn’t keep me interested. However the topic of this book, architecture, interior decoration etc. is really on my mind right now as I have spent the last year planning and designing the renovation of my grandmother’s and my father’s childhood home, a wonderful farm in the countryside. E.g. I am pondering why it seems to make a difference to me that my family history is tied to this place. Because to me it really does. More on that later on the blog, I suspect.
Oh and I almost forgot: Neil Gaiman: Odd and the Frost Giants. I read the first chapter to my son this afternoon. It seems promising!
