Dark Roads is finished, at least in first draft form, the final word count stands at just under 101k. making this the longest first draft I’ve managed. I wonder if this is the case of never mind the quality, feel the sidth? Still, the story is now done. I know that there is definitely going to be some re-writing required. Some characters need fleshing out. There is a lack of narrative description in quite a few places and I’m going to have to examine the timelines pretty closely to make sure that they hang together believably. But still, the draft is done and the tidying up can now begin.
Most people who get to this stage report that it’s actually harder than writing the original story, so we’ll have to see how it all goes. Stephen King says put it away for six weeks before you begin the first re-write, but I’m not sure I have the discipline to do that. Still, it can certainly have a few days, while I think about the next one and maybe do a short story or two.
Speaking of short stories, there is a competition King Lear Prizes that is open to UK residents over seventy, so I might have a go at that, and I should also be looking at something for the writing groups I belong to.