It's done!

[Mike Wright]

"This was definitely not over."
Those are the last words written in the completed, first draft of my first full length novel.

Oh my God. I think I am going to explode.

Three years. 90,720 words. I have poured my heart and soul into this book. I cannot even comprehend that this stage of the game is finally complete.

What happens next you ask? Well I tear the book apart, chapter by chapter, analyze and scrutinize the writing down to every detail, and then re-write it. Chapter by chapter.

I don't think it will be as hard as it sounds.

Also, I've got a panel of people I've got to send this off to, and as soon as they are done with their comments we'll all sit down together and go over them. And hopefully Tony will be able to give me some good advice on the military thing.

I'll be honest, and I know I'm not supposed to get so invested in my own work, because in order to make it good you really gotta be willing to destroy it and rebuild it... But what I wanna say is... I physically sobbed writing the final chapter. Not because it was the last, and it was done, but because what I had written... Everything came full circle in a way that even I didn't expect. Yes, there is the twist ending that I loved and I know people are gonna go crazy over, but the final chapter is just... so touching I guess. I guess I wanted, if this thing ends up being the last thing I ever write, I wanted this to mean something. And I just was shocked at what came out. It's a beautiful, touching ending to a story about friends, and about war, and about civilization, and what makes a good one and what makes a bad one. All the backstory I'd labored over in the last ten years, somehow it all made it in there. And I did not think that was possible. And yet the characters still stole the story away from me and made it their own. My outline for this book was so stale I was looking forward to book two and three because I knew this one would stink. But it doesn't. This book could stand alone, and easily be my greatest achievement. I am so amazingly proud of myself right now, you have no idea.

So now, first thing... I'm gonna go take a shower, because I just wrote 30,000 words in basically four days, and I also changed the brakes on my wifes car, drove to Curlew and back all during this... Well you get the picture.

I am just so blown away right now.

[iburn]

wow! that is really great... i know the pain and joy that comes from writing and you are an inspiration to others... i have yet to even come close to finishing my book...

congratulations 10 fold.

i expect to be given the opportunity to buy a copy as soon as its ready!

good luck with the final cut!

[PB DrunkIdiot]

That is super awesome.

just shy of a 100,000 words... hrm, any thoughts on a movie?

[Mike Wright]

Sure I've had thoughts... But that depends entirely upon peoples reactions to it. And I'm trying not to think to much about it, because... Well thats about as best as you can get, unless you get some director like Alfonso Cauron, which I'll be witholding movie rights in the instance the studio interested wants to use him or Ridley Scott to direct it. I hate those guys. Ridley Scott especially. He knows exactly how to take a great movie with great actors and turn it into pure shit.

But I will say this as a spoiler. If this does become a movie, not only will it be CG heavy, but it will probably push the threshold of what CG is capable of doing. And that's saying a lot with movies like Lord of the Rings out there. I have the unsual position of knowing a lot about the CG process, and there is a concept in the series I'd love to see them do right, but there is a particular scene that would be particularly difficult to pull off. I've seen it done on a small scale, but to do this would really be impressive.

But hey, like I said, it depends entirely upon how popular it is when it comes out. So, not to like, take advantage of anyone... But when it comes out, I'm gonna have to count on some word of mouth... Of course if you guys do pick it up and live local or send it to me with an SASE, I'd be happy to sign it for you.

[da Q]

Damn, I had issues writing 5 pages in high school and college. Thats an amazing accomplishment. As a writer, to be able to say that the characters truly took over the story speaks volumes as to the honesty within your work. I think a lot of writers fail when they try to force their characters into a preconceived idea, rather than adapting with the growth of the characters. I'd love to read it.
Who are your favorite writers? Was there anything in particular that inspired you to write this story?

[Mike Wright]

Originally Posted by da Q

Who are your favorite writers? Was there anything in particular that inspired you to write this story?

Thanks! Years ago I was a huge Michael Chrichton fan, but I haven't read anything of his since Timeline. I was a bit disenfranchised with the material I was finding out there, because beyond him I was so used to reading Star Trek and Star Wars novels that I never really got to the heart of the Science Fiction genre. Since coming to the close of writing this rough draft I've taken steps to rectify that situation by picking up novels off of the Hugo award list (Kind of looked at as the Emmy of the Science Fiction literary genre). At the suggestion of my therapist I started with Enders Game by Orson Scott Card... I liked it a lot but something seemed odd about it that I couldn't place, like it was this great story but it was out of sync with itself. So then I read American Gods by Neil Gaimon, and it had a cool plot but it was full of cardboard characters and the main character just seemed like he had no development throughout the whole thing. Then I picked up Spin by Robert Charles Wilson, and put it back down after reading five pages and realized it was a first person perspective novel. (I freaking hate that more than anything) I've got Hominids by Robert J Sawyer, but him being a Canadian has sort of dulled my enthusiasm for diving into that one. So, against my own judgment (my idea was to read one of each author and get an idea of their style and what makes them good, I wasn't interested in series works) I picked up Speaker for the Dead, which was the sequel to Ender's Game. And I got to say, not only did it suddenly make Ender's Game make sense, but I found it so incredibly moving that I was literally forced to go out and pick up the last two books of the Ender's saga, Xenocide and Children of the Mind. While I was at Barnes and Noble I caught sight of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel by Susanna Clarke in the Under $7 pile (Hardback). It doesn't look to be my style of story but it caught my attention because this was Mrs. Clarke's first novel ever, and I believe she's the first to win the Hugo on her first work. So while I hold no allusions, because I don't really frequent the convention scene anymore and it isn't all that likely that I'm going to be able to generate enough buzz for the book to do it, I still find that inspiring.