The End
You’ve pulled it off and finally finished the manuscript. What next? Your work isn’t over yet, says James McCreet, with another bulletin on his novel in progress
James McCreet
not
And so, with a bout of frenzied air-drumming and a 1,300-word sprint to the line, the novel is finished. I’ve written 1,000 words a day every day for the last ninety days. It’s been tiring but very satisfying and I have mixed feelings now it’s done – happy that the pressure is off, but sad that tomorrow lacks the unmatchable excitement of novel-writing.
The nature of my process means that only one draft is necessary. I won’t need to make any changes to structure. Nothing significant needs to be cut or added. I was sufficiently sure of the planning to put my midway twist in at 45,000 words (chapter eleven). The final count came in at just thirteen words short of my 90,000 target (chapter 22).
Of course, ‘finished’ is an elastic word. The hard work of hacking out the novel is done. The blank pages have been filled. Now begins the easier but no less important list of jobs to get it ready for potential publication and myself ready to write another novel.
Step one: the edit
No book ends the way it begins. Characters change, storylines evolve and the style becomes more confident or consistent as the novel grows. I tend to make a list of necessary editing criteria as I go, adding to it at the end of the document so that I can keep on going without distraction.