Finishing A Novel Is Like Birthing A Baby

Let's face it. Finishing and editing a novel is like birthing a baby. We nurture the process and can't wait to get to the end. It usually takes at least a year and we know the stats like we did when we gave birth to our first, precious child. Date, time, weight, and height. Except in the case of a novel, the stats are slightly different.

A few days ago, I finished editing (for real this time after the fourth or eighth pass) my women's fiction, THURSDAYS AT COCONUTS. Here are my stats:

350 pages
67 chapters
87,236 words

Yep. It's long but women's fiction ranges between 80-100,000 words. Once an editor gets hold of it, I'm sure the word count will go up or down again. It has been edited several times and I sought professional advice from a former women's fiction editor from St. Martin's Press.

During her overall evaulation, she gave me great feedback like make the cop more likeable, take out some of the "S" names (I had four--Suzy, Sylvia, Sara and Sean that I hadn't even noticed because two of these come into play late in the novel) and get rid of some red herrings. She suggested a couple of other things that I didn't do--like delete a tragic scene and start on chapter 4 where she thought my writing got stronger. If I don't get picked up this go around, I think I'll listen to those suggestions.

Finally, though, this editor said three things that thrilled me. She said I was an excellent storyteller, a strong writer and she hoped my manuscript didn't get lost in a slush pile. Let's hope it doesn't.

What are your stats?

THE END

I. Did. It. Today, I wrote THE END and finally finished my women's fiction novel! Yippee. Hooray. Woo hoo. Snoopy dance. I can't believe it. Novel writing is very HARD. Much harder than I thought it would be. It takes discipline, determination and doggedness. Also, I didn't realize the lonliness that would be involved. Sometimes I feel like I'm in my writing cave, hunkered over my keyboard, rubbing my wrists or back while the bright sunshine gleams through the window, teasing me. I tell it to leave me alone for I have to finish. Actually, I've become a pretty good hermit. Thank goodness for the writers' groups I've joined. We spur each other on and actually leave our computers for a few hours to socialize. Here are the stats: I finished at 1:24 p.m. on June 20, 2009. That's when I wrote THE END and hit the 93,000-word mark (that's over 300 typewritten pages). Spouting off all these stats makes me feel like a proud mother. Honestly, I almost feel like I gave birth. (It wasn't as painful as my natural childbirth but darn close.) I'm so happy I could cry--or do a Snoopy dance. Maybe I'll do both. Just had to share. Thanks to everyone for their support over the past 1.5 years. Huge smile.