Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Finished!

Yes, this morning I finished writing the first draft of my new Porfiry Petrovich novel, A RAZOR WRAPPED IN SILK.

Current word count stands at 124,942. I imagine I will cut that down significantly (10%?) in the editing.

I'm eager to crack on with that, as cutting words can be tremendously satisfying. But I do need to get some distance from it before I begin the read through.

And it's a lovely sunny day. I feel good.

9 comments:

no said...

Congrats, Roger!

Roger Morris said...

thanks Aliya!

Jenn said...

Congratulations!

Lizzy Siddal said...

This is good news but how long does it normally take to get from this stage to publication? Yours impatiently .....

Roger Morris said...

Thanks Jenn.

And thank you Lizzy/Marcia. It probably will be about a year. They'll try to get me out at the beginning of 2010, I imagine. Sorry it's taken me so long this time, but it wasn't entirely my fault. Faber let almost a year go by after I delivered AVL before renewing my contract. I think they just forgot about me! Anyhow, I've written it in more or less a year, which is about as fast as I can turn them out!

I will put you on the list for advance copies, so it should be less than a year before you get yours!

Roger

Ninjauthor said...

Congratulations, Roger - this is great news! (Glad to see the cat didn't scupper the new novel)

Does this mean going writing full-time has paid off? And what's next? A breather or are you throwing yourself into the next project?

Ninjauthor said...

Ah, when I meant new project, I meant next draft (jumping ahead of myself a little...)

Roger Morris said...

Hi Matt, great to hear from you!

I certainly don't think I would have finished the novel by now if I hadn't given up the day job. The thing I face now though is wondering whether this is sustainable. Completing the novel brings me to the end of my current contract with Faber. I have to see if they are interested in anything else from me, whether that's another Porfiry book (which I would like to write) or something else (also have some ideas there too!). I have a couple of other things in the pipeline - smaller projects that may keep me busy for a short while and will also generate some income. Well, one, maybe two such things! I like working from home. It's great to have more time to write, and more time to spend with the kids. It probably has sent me a bit mad(der) but what the hell.

As for your next draft question, I am hoping that this first draft is pretty much there. I am one of those writers who edits as I go along. I go back and fix things when I sense a problem, you know, flesh out scenes or characters that I realise need to be more 'there'. I don't really like to leave things sketchy, because I kind of feel the details are crucial, and the details need to be in place as I go along because that is what I build the story on.

I suspect that what I will be doing over the next two weeks is ruthlessly cutting. I hope that I won't discover any major plot flaws. If I do I'm f****d because I have to deliver it by the middle of Feb!!!!!!! No time for drastic rewrites then.

Marny said...

Congratulations! So about a year until it gets published? That gives me a little time to read the one I won recently *lol*