YEEEHAAAA! It's done!

(Image nicked off the internet.)

It's done. The first edit is complete! Whooohooo!!!

A friend said to me it sounded like I was experiencing childbirth with this edit. Well, all I can say if this was childbirth - and it was pretty damn painful - then the original writing process was sublime sex.

I don't know about the rest of you but for me, the first write of a new story is one magnificent adventure - it's passionate, intense, exhausting but entirely wonderful. Erm... just like good sex...

This story, like everything I've written (other than articles) just flowed from me - I wrote it one in a month, last year. I'm not a plotting, planning kind of writer, I'm what I call a "just writer" - I just write - any shaping or smoothing comes later.

So... when I get to the editing process... well, that's a whole other matter. It's when I edit that I have to think and consider. I have to hunt out extraneous words, pulverise any adverbs that might have snuck in, check my characterisation, my plotting, structure and voice. After the thrill of "just writing", this, let me assure, is a massive pain in the butt.

Fortunately, I'm getting better about it - and I hope - better at it.

But at least the first draft is now done. I'll send a copy off to my critique and writing partner (waves to Penny), and meanwhile start thinking about the next manuscript, which has been composting away for the past few months... I don't know about the rest of you writing sorts, but I find ideas and stories chase me down - I hope, frankly, that they never stop!