Tuesday, September 25, 2012

"The Last House in the Sky" Done at 92,000 Words


Five months of work.


Yesterday I completed the rough draft of The Last House in the Sky. The document weighs in at just under 92,000 words, a lighter fighter than The House That Nobody Built. The day was a tenuous fugue of a deep-lung cold and syndrome pains locking my joints, but there were only two chapters left, and the characters were already unfolding their story so well. This may mean I'll have the edit the heck out of the ending later, but it's done for now.

What is a rough draft? To me it's the beginning, the middle, and the end. There is no plot skeleton left; every scene is written. It's covered in notes and bold marks on things to change or look over later, but there is a complete text. It's what needs to be cleaned up into a presentable draft later.

Also, if I died and you published it, I'd come back and haunt you. Please don't do that.

I can't discuss the plot specifics yet, but in celebration for closing this draft, I wanted to tease three things:


1. We'll find out why the three most infamous thieves in the world
                  turned themselves in on the same morning.

2. We'll learn what killed off the gremlins.

3. One of our heroes will fulfill his dream of riding
             an ankylosaurus into battle against a giant robot.

Thanks for all the support while I've been writing it. This morning I'm sleeping in, but I'm already aching to edit.

19 comments:

  1. Congratulations, John! Wow, you have been working so hard! So proud of you!!!!!!! Have fun with the editing!

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  2. Congratulations from here as well. However - please take care. I suspect that you (like me) pay dearly for overdoing things. Aching to edit is fine. Aching in the body is not.

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    1. I absolutely can, and your concern is much appreciated. I'll measure myself as best I can.

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  3. Congrats John! Hope the rest is long and replenishing.

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  4. You sure that aching is to edit?

    Congrats on finishing the draft, it's the third best feeling ever! (#2 is getting it published)

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    1. Now I think it's actually the itch to tinker, but I know Writer's Exhaustion too well. Definitely going to take it easy for at least a couple days and monitor myself.

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  5. You wrote another book! You are the boss. You are man! Look what you have created!

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  6. Congrats, John!

    Although I saw nothing in the teasers about Puddle. I'm not sure I can read something in that world without a Puddle.

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    1. I can neither confirm nor deny the presence of Puddle in this novel.

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    2. You better if you want a beta reader. ;)

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  7. Congratulations!! That is awesome! Good luck editing!

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  8. Congrats, John! Good luck with editing. When will you send to your first batch of readers?

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    1. I'm not sure. October looks like a very busy month with a possible script job. My loose plans are to give it a first edit in November, and a thorough one in December. If everything goes according to plan, then I'd send it to betas in January.

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  9. Congratulations, John. If you are like me you're still floating around on that euphoric rush that comes with typing, The End. Relish it. NaNo is just around the corner. Wahaahaahaa.
    ~jon

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  10. Congrats, John! It's always quite an accomplishment to finish a first draft. Sounds like quite a story. Can't wait for you to be happy with it enough to put out for reader consumption!

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  11. Congratulations! Finishing the first draft is always an accomplishment. For me it's like being able to take a breath after months of holding it in. I hope you made sure to celebrate properly and it sounds like you got some good sleep time in.

    Jai

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  12. Congratulations! Finishing the first draft is a big accomplishment.

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