Onwards!

Well, the first draft is gradually nearing completion. I've been saying that a lot lately, haven't I? I'm definitely going to finish it this week, however, by fair means or foul. I really want the satisfaction of printing out all 250-or-so pages onto clean, white A4 sheets and seeing it in a solid, physical form. Then I can go back and get into all the nitty-gritty of rewriting and editing.

I got a lot of good work done in the cafe today. The waiters recognise me now. One of them asked me what I'm working on.
"A novel," I said, and instantly wanted to qualify my statement with things like "I've published one before", just so I didn't seem like one of those people who talk and talk about writing the Great New Zealand (or American, or English) Novel and never get further than the first page. I wanted to produce a copy of my published book (possibly with a letter of authenticity?), a list of credentials, references, writing samples to prove that I am a 'real' writer. Which is ridiculous, but shows how defensive I feel, and how much I want to be taken seriously.
Of course, all the waitress said was, "Cool. Is it nearly finished?"
"I hope so," I said.

I am moderately happy with chapters one through twenty-nine, but chapters thirty to thirty five still need a lot of work. I think it is possible to finish this week, but I'm also conscious of keeping the pace of the book steady. Sometimes, when I'm excited about finishing a book, and all its events are getting more dramatic, I can rush towards the end and finish it a bit too abruptly. I really don't want to do that with this one, even in the first draft. You only have one chance to tell your story for the first time (can't remember who said that - think it may have been Timothy Hallinan), and I want the first telling to be good, even if I then go back and completely rehash it.