msagara | Finished!

Finished!

I've finished the first draft of CAST IN FURY.

I'm curious, though. For me, when I say I'm finished a novel, what I really mean is I've finished the first draft of the novel that I've been working on. I still have to go through it, line-edit, revise, fact check (and, honestly, it is not an understatement to say I am not very good at this last part ), tighten, clarify, etc. The book is not actually ready to head out the door (or in my case, be thrown out the door in frustration, because at a certain point, moving commas does not help) but to me -- it's finished when I have a complete first draft.

What stage in a book is finished, for you, if you write them?

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When I ship out the revised draft to editor. I say this because I invariably need to revise extensively. The pre-edit draft is an approximation at best.

Depends on which iteration of 'finished' is meant.

Finished with first draft is kind of the biggest deal for me, because I've got it all down, and it is by far the hardest part mentally.

Finished with all revision passes, including editorial, is another stage.

But then the copy edits come, and I might make additional changes (usually reasonably small).

I don't really feel finished with a book until the page proofs have come and gone. Then it is truly out of my hands.

I think, for me, the hardest part is the first draft, and it's the place in which much hand-wringing and certainty of abject failure frequently occurs. So when -that's- finished, I say "I'm finished".

The revisions and editorial stuff that comes after that feels productive, and it feels more like I'm in control of the book, because I can clearly see it is a book.

But my first draft tends to be relatively clean, because there's a lot of internal fussing and revising before I hit the end stretch. When I have a first draft, I have something that it will not kill me for other people to read. Whereas some people write everything first, and then refine in subsequent drafts; my iterations are partial throughout the process. So first draft is probably also a term that is defined entirely by process.

I'm finished when my beta readers get back to me with any errors or suggestions. That's when I send it off to the agent or editor.

Finished = finished the first draft, and any large structural flaws discovered while writing said draft. At this point, the story has been told, and has been pinned to the board like Schroedinger's butterfly, forever fixed in a single reality.

Polished = ready to send to editor

I don't write in order, and I revise bits as a I go, so it's almost impossible for me to say when a first (or even later) draft is finished. Further, in the Day Job, I have to deal with author revisions and the occasional "Can we make this change in blues?" request.

Consequently I call it "all written" when it's ready for beta readers. I don't think I'm comfortable with the term "finished" until something is printed and bound.

"I am not very good at this last part..." I would be embarrassed to tell you how many times Sheila has called or e-mailed in the last few weeks to check on minor inconsistency or another she's found...

You're not alone!

embarassment loves company!

But I think the inconsistenices are due to the idiosynchratic way we see the world; some things, I never forget -- but some things, I'm absolutely terrible at remembering, and its the latter that I often -do- forget in the long stretch between page one and page mumble.

embarassment loves company!

Unrelated, but ... A-HA!

If I could think of anything to do that would embarrass you without embarassing me more, you would be in minor trouble. Just saying.

Same, assuming I ever actually get that far.

I always say a novel is finished even though I know revisions are looming, but my first novel took me 17 years to "finish" (long story) so that is a big step for me.

Granted, now 2 of my finished novels have to be stripped back almost to the outlining stage...so they were finished, but now are unfinished, which could get rather confusing very quickly.

Erm, I say it's finished once i have a complete first draft. Failed to mention that part....

When I have a complete first draft, from start to finish. Revision and editing is a horrendous pain, but at least I'm working to polish something and not create it. ;)

Even for us wannabes?

Technically I'm never 'finished finished' but I'd say rewrite/fix 2 or 3 is usually when I get the novel in a somewhat likeable form. After a month of avoiding said fixes, of course.

I think the mechanical part is easier than figuring out the pacing and the specific content, but heaven knows I'm not particularly wonderful at either.

Even for us wannabes?

It's a process question about finishing stuff, so yes :). Because no matter how good (other people think) we are, we pretty much started from zero and just wrote. And revised. And revised. And etc.

Even the first novel, which was of course, written entirely on spec, was finished for me when I wrote "the end" the first time; the rest was revisions >.>

Beta readers ... which probably comes after the second-third revision.

I think finished is a good term to use after a first draft is done, because for me the first draft is the hardest. After that it's revising & polishing...which may take longer than writing the draft, but oh well.

I'm very happy to read that you've finished the first draft. I admit I'll be much happier when I can finally read it.

Are you going to be at the store Saturday?

I was thrilled to pieces when I finished my first draft of Mysterious Paris, but even now, years later, it's still not finished. I'm going for one more sloggy revision by year-end. And if I still don't think it's finished, I might hack it into a novella for a writing contest. And then I won't have any novels that are in any finished state and can spend time finishing my short stories. *sigh*

I've not actually published or even tried to have a book published yet, but I still think of my books as "finished" after a complete first draft. And on a related note:

The book is not actually ready to head out the door (or in my case, be thrown out the door in frustration, because at a certain point, moving commas does not help)

I never really *finish* anything, either. I just give up after a while and say that it's done if it looks complete. :) This phenomenon is far more obvious in my art than my writing, because none of my novels have made it to the stage of "OK, I give up".

Same for me. Once I write the last word I feel I have finished the book, although, since I am an extreme potterer and tweaker, it will probably undergo a lot of changes before I am really happy with it.
By the way, you probably won't remember me, but we met at a FilkOntario.
If you like, you can see here what I do.</a (http://www.juhonisch.de)

I'm the same way--once the first draft is finished and I've told the story, that's "finished". For me, writing and re-writing are two very different things. But, like you, I tend to tinker as I go, so the first draft is usually pretty clean.

Congrats on finishing that 1st draft.
I'm just waiting to have the finished version in my eager hands. (no pressure (maybe just a wee bit) or anything, lol!)

Didn't realize you were on LJ, just added you to my f list.

As far as a book being done? First draft is very rough, ugly, incomplete, and in the wrong order. Takes me at least 2 more drafts and coments from readers before it can be called ready. Not done, just ready for the editor to take a pass at it.

Some months later I'll get a revision phone call. Yet another draft, often adding 100 or more pages. Then it's done. Sort of.

But of course there are page proofs to go through later yet.

The book is done when the bound copies are in the store and there is no way I can do one more quick edit.

*waves* We chatted at Bakka today. I've friended you.

The very moment I type, say, or think the last word, because it means that I have (successfully) completed a chain of thoughts that may possibly end up on someones book shelf somewhere. Everything else I do to the manuscript is just polish.

Any idea when this book will be out? By the way I love this series.

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Finished!

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Hi!

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cast in fury