Blogging NaNoWriMo 2013: Draft Finished and Validation

There we go. Did a hell of a lot of writing in the last couple of days and finished the novel draft at 57,287 words (using my word counter, not the dodgy one on the site that brings it up to 57,466). I actually think that makes it one of my longest first drafts. My last two NaNo successes came in at 54,000 and 51,000. No problem. I like working from the bottom up and adding in is a hell of a lot easier than having to disentangle the plot to condense it.

With this novel, I knew the ending when I started but the getting there was a bit of a mystery to me. Along the way, some characters sprouted into distasteful people and one, supposedly small, character took a leading role towards the end. I think that was thanks in part from the reaction I got about her from the one person who's allowed to read everything I write. Anyhow, the character definitely developed and, when the rewrite finally happens, I can't wait to develop her in particular.

Did utilising the places I'd just been for my holiday mean it turned into a dictation of places and things? I hope not and I don't think so. In the end, I was so eager to distance myself from the holiday that the characters sped away from the things I tried to describe. Maybe that's something I need to work on in the rewrite too.

So am I happier with the draft now? Well, yes, I'm happy with the story as it is on paper but that sense of euphoria I mentioned on Monday is still sadly lacking. That's not to say the story couldn't be good with some work but just that I'm not in the frame of mind to make it good now. I wonder when I will be.