A Good Day
Today is a good day. I finished the draft of my second novel yesterday afternoon and still have that draft this morning. I have been looking forward to this day for a long time.
Nafarious’ personality and physical characteristics first hit paper on 1/16/08, 23 months ago. More characters and storyline developed over the following weeks and months, but no story. Other projects came up since then (The Easter Experience, Spring Meets Winter, my web page, the opening of Chimree Republic, painting the baby’s room, etc), but I have always found time to play with these characters and this storyline.
A couple dozen chapters found their way into my computer during that first year and a half, but they were problematic. The 2009 Central Coast Writers’ Conference helped root out those difficulties. On October 7th, I put everything else aside to devote myself to this story. The last two months have been a rollercoaster ride. There were already great characters and an overall course for them to follow, but the interaction of the characters brought out life that I didn’t foresee.
I was proud of myself when I wrote my first book. Today’s feeling is different, I am proud of this book. There are a lot of writing problems that will need to be worked out – it’s a draft after all, but it is a far better work that my first. The climax is harder hitting. The characters are better developed. There is a lot still to do, but I would have bought and read this book as a teenager. I hope my proofreaders (family, friends, and fellow writers) agree and, eventually, my target audience. I also hope I can always improve this much between projects. Those are worries for another day. Today is a good day.
