When I went to bed on Thursday night, it was because I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore not because I wanted to. And anyone who knows me knows how much I like sleep, so that’s a big deal. But I was so close to finishing my WIP that I wanted to get all the words on the page. I couldn’t do it that night, there were too many words left, but I was bound and determined to get it done Friday.
Friday dawned a good day. I was pumped and ready to go, and even though I had to go to the day job (which I was ready to call in to just so I could write) I had a goal in mind; work my eight hours, get home, and finish that draft. Before work, I finished another round of edits on Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love and I was in the author zone. And then a wonderful thing happened. Unexpectedly, the boss let us all go at noon. I was thrilled! An extra half a day to get writing done!
Well, I had to do some cleaning first because the cat got sick, but I was thinking while I was doing it. And then I half convinced myself that I would take a nap before I wrote. But the doc was open on my computer, and I thought I would just write for a few minutes while the drier finished doing its thing. But then, yeah, I got sucked in to the story and a couple of hours and four thousand words later, I had a completed draft. I am not ashamed to admit I did a butt wiggling happy dance. Because all the words, every last one of them, were on the page.
I edit as I write, so now it’s reading it through and making tweaks. About a dozen times. I’ll be getting more feedback, and I’m sure a few changes will happen then. The Admiral, who has been reading along as I write, likes this one. He’s pushing for sequels. And if I’m honest, my characters are pushing for them too.
One of the reasons I was so anxious to get this draft done was because I’m anxious to get started on the next. It’s still a trilogy, as I have it planned. I need to plot the next book, as I only have the beginning in my head (and of course, the end, because we all know how it’s going to end) and the third book is already plotted. Incidentally, that was going to be the second book, but now I’ve realized timeline wise, it works better as the third so it’s gotten pushed back.
I’ve got to focus some attention on the upcoming flash fics–I have the challenges and the ideas, I just need to get them on the page–but my focus for the foreseeable future is this series. Once I get this story as polished as I can make it, I’ll submit it and hope. There’s work to do there yet (including writing the synopsis, of which I am not a fan). But I’ll also be working on the next two because this world and these characters won’t leave me alone. Yes, each book focuses on a different set of MCs, but I’m hooked and I’m involved. I’m barely taking a breather this time, because it’s the same world and I get to see my guys again even as I write about different guys in their circle, and I’m not feeling the usual mourning that takes place when I finish writing a story.
But for now, that draft is done because I have the entire story on the page. And I count that as a win.
Kris T. Bethke--Author of M/M Romance 