well, would ya look at that...

alfa beta

I've just typed the words 'THE END' (after typing 138,000 other words before them)

First draft finished - and what a feeling - I've even cracked open a beer - like on a tuesday night - come on like!!!

Okay, so now...now I save the file. I back it up. And I leave it alone. Yep. I don't touch it. I don't do anything with it for, let's say, four, five, maybe six weeks.

And during that time I do all the stuff I've told the missus I'd do, like, ages ago. Bathroom tiling, gas fire repair, landscaping plan, patio etc (yeah we sorta built a house recently)...and then when all that's done I'll click on 'Pages' again and I'll open the file called 'JKNovel' and I'll start reading, and I'll start cutting, and I'll start editing and I'll start changing and I'll start polishing and I'll keep doing all that until I can't make what I've written any better. (Because when all is said and done, that's all I'll be able to do.)

Who knows what will happen then... Who knows if the thing will ever get published... Who knows how many people will ever end up reading it... But, hey, those questions can be answered another day. Right now I'm just gonna sit back and stare for a few more minutes at those two lovely words ('the' and 'end') and I'm gonna say to myself (again) that I'VE JUST WRITTEN A NOVEL (in principle anyway) and, you know what, I might - just might - crack open another beer.

Good times, folks, good ****ing times!!

Monkeybonkers

Good stuff, congratulations. It seems like you have a nice sense of achievement there and rightly so. Good idea also to leave it for a while and come back to it again with a fresh perspective. Well done

Mr E

Congrats, ab. That's a great achievement!

What kind of novel is it? (without giving the plot away, obviously!)

alfa beta

it's a thriller Mr E

(at least that's what I think it is - haven't asked anyone else for their opinion yet, but that might be the next step to take!)

EileenG

Send me the synopsis if you like, and I'll rip it apart for you. If there are plot holes, I'll find them.

Pretzill

Well done! Hope you enjoyed your impromptu Tuesday beers - that's a nice feeling you got there but I betchya you wont wait four, five or six weeks to begin the 2nd draft/tinkering process. I give it a week max!

hcass

Yours is a book I would love to read. What an achievement - well done.