Final draft of second novel finished

Novel research

This month, I’m very excited to have finished the final draft of my second novel. It’s a fantasy novel this time, the idea for which I got in the summer of 2013. After a week of research, I wrote the first draft in a month during my summer holiday break from the secondary school where I worked. In total I wrote 3 drafts as follows:

Draft 1: getting the basic plot & characterisation in a comprehensible story

Draft 2: Tightening up the character arcs and checking consistency with plot and character motivation (as it is a fantasy novel)

Draft 3: now that everything in draft 2 & 2 is complete, punching up the storyline to add more action

Phew… And since draft 3 is also my final draft, I’m hoping that once my editor has gone through the manuscript with his red pen, the final check will involve a copy-edit and some polish, then…done. Writing a novel seems like a long time in the making, but I’d rather be thorough and do it right than rush it – and have to flush it. And with my first book, a literary novel, still making the rounds with agents and publishers (I never simultaneously submit. I have my 6 week rule, which is a slow process – but thorough), it’s good to always keep looking to the next writing project. Onwards and upwards!