Nathan Bransford - The Forums

I finished the first draft of Marked a few minutes ago. It's unspeakably awful and messy, and probably has gaps the size of Texas, but it is a Finished draft!

So excited! So tired! So relieved!

*Passes out and sleeps for a very long time*

CV

Yay! Well done.

Go you! Finsihing is such a wonderful and exasperating feeling. Sleep well tonight so tomorrow you can start all over

Hooorah! *confettis!*

Congratulations!!! *Confetti and lots of smiles* Sleep well, for tomorrow the editing starts

Man, I love that feeling. It makes me want champagne (which I don't like and I can't drink anyways) and to dance (which I don't/can't do) and giggle until my cats start conspiring to commit me (I'm sure they do that anyways). So congrats!! Here's some virtual chocolate - you earned it!!

*Happy dance* *Stops, thinks about edits* CRAP! *Runs and hides*

I've never actually gotten to this point. Dios, I do want champagne and chocolate, but I also want to throw up and hide because I have so much work to do!

I'm getting a hard copy tomorrow - Editing is so much easier on actual paper! - Maybe I should invest in a red pen? Or maybe a less angry color, blue or purple or green.

CV

Congrats, Charlee. Also, belated happy b-day. I saw you listed on the birthdays section of the front page a couple days ago.

Haha. Thank you. Yes, I did turn 22 over the weekend.

CV

CharleeVale wrote:*Happy dance* *Stops, thinks about edits* CRAP! *Runs and hides*

I've never actually gotten to this point. Dios, I do want champagne and chocolate, but I also want to throw up and hide because I have so much work to do!

I'm getting a hard copy tomorrow - Editing is so much easier on actual paper! - Maybe I should invest in a red pen? Or maybe a less angry color, blue or purple or green.

CV

Yes, this is totally normal behavior. It's kinda like going on a first date - you're so excited but then holy crap what am I doing oh I hope these jeans don't make my butt look big.

My advice - don't think about the edits right now. Take some time off. You'll thank me later. Editing right away is a great way to kill your energy on it (trust me, I just went through this!). Enjoy real life, a new project, those weird people who say they're your family, remember why you keep those annoying furballs around the house and play with the cats or take the dog for a walk. Go back fresh and edits will be a lot easier.

On a side note, I always edit in red pen. I like it. I know, I'm crazy. My Mum edits for me in anything but red or black, so I get my ms returned to me in rainbow edits. After a while, all colors are angry when they're critiquing your writing.

CharleeVale wrote:Haha. Thank you. Yes, I did turn 22 over the weekend.

Happy birthday!! Young'un.

dios4vida wrote:After a while, all colors are angry when they're critiquing your writing.

Bahahahaha! Nice! I'll have to remember that. I may take a couple days, but I just came back to writing the mss after a couple months off, so I'm still pretty fresh!

dios4vida wrote:Happy birthday!! Young'un.

Thanks!

CV

I'm getting a hard copy tomorrow - Editing is so much easier on actual paper!

Yes. Print it out and get really close to the printer. It's fun to watch all the writing that YOU did come out in it's physical form. Flip the pages, hold it tight, and put it on the kitchen table as a centerpiece. Then bust out the red pen, maybe even a black marker. You'll be amazed at how taking away makes things so much better.

If you say you are "almost done" for two years that's normal.

Congrats. Treat yourself to a mini celebration (chocolate, bourbon, etc).

Printing tip: Set your settings to Fast Draft or Draft. It will print faster and use a quarter of the ink.

Printing tip: Set your settings to Fast Draft or Draft. It will print faster and use a quarter of the ink.

Ryan, thanks for this. I'm going to be printing my manuscript next week.

Congrats! You wrote a book! Yes, it still needs work, but you did it, and that's a really big step

Yipee!!! You've done something alot of people just talk about - you wrote a book!!!!

Way to go, what an accomplishment!