Oh. My. Goodness. I think, I THINK, I’ve just finished the first draft of my first ever novel!!!!!

On 1st May 2015 I began what I dubbed ‘the three month novel’, based on an idea by Stephen King that novels are best written in one go while the idea is fresh and vibrant in your mind. Well, I well and truly missed my self-imposed deadline of a July completion date, but today I can say that I’m finished – and the feeling is like no other!

Of course I’m not ‘finished’ finished. There are a million and one inconsistencies and details which I’ll have to sort out on a first edit – dates and plot lines which developed as I wrote. I wasted a lot of time early on in the process going back and forth editing, so at one point I took the decision to simply keep going without editing. I’ll worry about getting the little details straight in the spring.

Here we go – the final summary of the first draft!

Day 220

First draft final word count – 97,556 words

Number of pages – 340

Number of chocolate bars eaten – At least three per word.

Thank you to everyone who has read my blog posts along the way and shared their thoughts in the comments. I’m now planning to follow more of Stephen King’s advice by putting the first draft away in a drawer for as long as I can stand. Now, Christmas, and then I can come back to it in the spring with fresh eyes.

Once I’ve done the first edit, I’ll be looking for enthusiastic beta readers. Watch this space!