I have reached a milestone, and one that is probably going to make those of you who have subscribed to my newsletter mailing list quite happy. I have now completed the first draft of the companion novella to From the Grave of the Gods. Yes!

While sitting at 19,473 words, it’s a lot shorter than the main novel in the series, but this marks the second time I have completed a full story! And I have to say I’m well chuffed. Finishing the first draft is a very significant step in writing a book, since now there is something there; the completion of the foundation of a creative vision. For me as someone who tends to get really involved in a creative project just short of the point of obsession for a while and then loses interest instantly, it’s a big thing to see something like this through to the end. Before that point, it could go either way. Who knows whether I’ve got the perseverance to reach the end? Will I get there? Will I lose interest part way through and leave it as another unfinished work?

When I completed the first draft of From the Grave of the Gods, it showed me that I did have what it takes to write. I wouldn’t dare call myself a “writer” before I had finished it. Plenty of people start books. Precious few ever finish them. (I’m not saying you have to finish a work to be called a “writer”; not at all! A writer is simply someone who likes to write, whether they finish it or not. It was just part of my own insecurities that stopped me from considering myself a writer before I had made a beginning-to-end story)

I felt a lot more confident going into writing the companion novella, since I already had the 130,000 words of the novel my belt. I knew that if I could get to the end of a full-length novel, I’d should be able to do so with a work sitting at the shorter end for novellas! That’s not to say it didn’t come with its own unique challenges. Sure I can tell a story with loads of words, but could I really tell one using a fraction of that amount? Having that lower word-count aim also presented challenges with planning things like sub-plots and character interactions which I couldn’t take tens of chapters to develop. Though, aiming for the lower end does give me quite a bit of wiggle-room in that regard (Novellas can run from 17,500 to 40,000 words, after all).

So… It’s ready to send out now, right?

Woah now, hold your horses. While I appreciate the enthusiasm, you don’t want to read it yet, trust me! The next stage after the first draft is… taking a break. I’m going to put it down for a couple of weeks and let it settle. I’m far too close to the story, you see? Then, once I’ve gone and done something else for a bit (perhaps I might be able to work on implementing beta feedback into the main novel; create some cover art, or concept sketches or…) I’ll be in a much better position to spot and correct any major errors in the first draft. I’ll be policing for overuse of adverbs, plot holes, spelling and grammatical errors, you name it.

With From the Grave of the Gods, I went through this self-editing process three times - reading through the entire book and making notes on any corrections that I felt needed making. This process actually led me to deleting five entire chapters from the book and replacing them with a much more engaging set (also increasing the number of chapters by two).

So, it’s a worthwhile endeavour for sure, and I’ll probably repeat this process for every book I write until I find a better method. I won’t lie to you, editing can also end up being pretty tedious, and it can be never-ending! That’s why I limit my drafts to just three - if I haven’t spotted an error after three passes, then I’m unlikely to ever spot it. After that, someone else can take a look with fresh eyes.

Once all the editing is done and dusted, I’ve got a nice cover made, and I have formatted the document properly, then I’ll be able to put it all together in a PDF (and possibly another digital format for e-readers - I’ll have to do some research into how to make those) to send out to mailing list subscribers.

And that’s all I have for you right now!

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