It’s done.

361 pages. 157,000 words. And a whole heap of errors, problems, inaccuracies and downright mistakes. However, I have gotten through to the end of the first draft. There’s an awful lot of work to be done, but I’m taking the next two days off, as I need to re-acclimatise myself to reality, and generally let my brain recover. It’s strange, though, to think that all the pieces are in place. They may be the wrong shape, and they may need a tremendous amount of work, but they’re there.

After the next couple of days, my next priority is to try and get the novel’s fictional world working properly,- not to the extent that it overwhelms the story, but just enough so that I know how the various galactic civillisations actually work (especially as while the current novel is a standalone adventure, it’s also potentially set up as a series of escapades for my lead character). I don’t know if realistic economics and geopolitics is my thing- but I love worldbuilding, and I want this thing to have as much detail as is possible.

It’s officially two weeks since I arrived, which feels downright peculiar, and in fourteen days time, I will be back in London. It’s been a peaceful but strange ride so far, and once I get back to it on Sunday, I want to make sure that I use the available time to the best of my abilities.

I’m very proud of what I’ve done- and I think I can see that novel that it needs to be. There’s a crapload of work to be done, but I think I can get it there, and there are certain sections (particularly towards the climax) where the storytelling gets utterly mental, and I’m actually quite excited about the idea of getting something this loopy finished to a good standard.

Tonight, I’m going to barbecue some sausages, drink some wine, and do my best to relax. Tomorrow, I may try and voyage out on an exploratory walk, to expand my horizons. And Saturday- apart from watching with a mix of mild hope and extreme cynicism as New Who comes to the end of Season 2, may be a time when I actually start to think about what I’m going to do next, and throw some ideas around about the two “Young Adult” novel ideas I’ve got- one for the girls, one for the boys, both of them pretty damn loopy.