That First Draft

Yes, it will be shitty!

My little story about a woman in Italy, more specifically, Venice and Rome started over 3 years ago. And NO, she isn’t me! I thought how hard can it be to write a book?

Ignorance is bliss.

It has taken a long time to get to this point, where in a couple of weeks that shitty first draft (thank you, Anne Lamott) will be finished and ready for the chopping block. Currently it is sitting at 115000 words. It’s a fat baby. Who knows if it will appeal to anyone other than me? I don’t care.

It’s a first novel, not a NYT bestseller.

My protagonist needs a break, so the story has to stop, for a while at least, before I decide to tell more. Did I mention I’M ALMOST DONE? I’ll miss crafting her world, a dream life I would enjoy, but refining what’s already written? That will be a new experience.

It’s time to get serious and make the pages dance.

In order to speed up the process I’ve booked a few days away on the seaside, wishing it were Italy, but in Italy I would have way too many shiny things to chase. I can’t be distracted by chores or coffee dates with well-meaning friends. It will just be me, the stack of pages, coffee, some pens and post its, my laptop and maybe, well definitely, some wine.

I’ll keep you posted on the progress. If I’ve learned anything from this, it’s one thing.

DON’T GIVE UP!