Yesterday, I finished the draft of my middle grade novel. It’s a little over 19,000 words with 20 chapters. It’s the single longest thing I’ve ever written, and I anticipate that it will get a little longer by the time I finish revising. I don’t know everything it needs yet or how many revisions it will take before I’m ready to share it with anyone.
Honestly, I find the prospect of revision daunting because I’ve never written this way before. I’ve never slogged through a draft without self-editing. I’m prone to stopping and tinkering with word choice and sentence structure. What I’ve never done is read a piece and with an eye toward chopping it to pieces and reassembling.
But, I did it. I put my butt in a chair and wrote the story Noah and I dreamed up. And now I’ll wait. I’m walking away for a few weeks. I need the perspective that can only come with hindsight.
Proud of the effort you’ve put into this. You’re an editor at heart so I believe you’ll handle that with ease. 🙂