My Novel Completion Celebration Thread...

[MongoGutman]

I am so incredibly bored right now, I have gone back to work on another novel.

haha, bitten by the bug!

congrats on finishing the novel. alternate time-line eh? my guess is it's about the almost unimaginable history where Gareth Gates won ITV's 2002 series 'Pop Idol' rather than coming in as runner-up.

[Quatermass]

I am so incredibly bored right now, I have gone back to work on another novel.

haha, bitten by the bug!

congrats on finishing the novel. alternate time-line eh? my guess is it's about the almost unimaginable history where Gareth Gates won ITV's 2002 series 'Pop Idol' rather than coming in as runner-up.

Nah. It's probably more believable than that. The point of divergence is further upstream in history, a lot so, but history has only relatively minor differences.

The other novel isn't for the TP Prize. Well, it was, originally, but it went down the crapper. And although I finished a couple of drafts (at last!) earlier this year, I've decided to come back to it and do it much better.

[MongoGutman]

The other novel isn't for the TP Prize. Well, it was, originally, but it went down the crapper. And although I finished a couple of drafts (at last!) earlier this year, I've decided to come back to it and do it much better.

I'm told the best thing is to get outside input - get someone else to read your drafts and give their opinion and reactions - difficult, I know, to let others see your works in progress but I understand it really helps.

[SimStars13]

Well done Q and good luck!

Well done!

I tried writing a book about 2 years ago, got to 50,000 words then stopped... so being able to Finish writing one seems like a massive accomplishment

50,000 words and then you stopped Will you ever go back to it? May be you could put a word count limit on it to focus getting it done and/or give it a makeover for a competition to help get it finished? Seems a shame to write so much and not finish.

Well... I wrote it for NaNoWriMo, where the goal is to get to 50,000 words in a month. After that I lost the drive to finish and kinda lost interest in the story. I am still trying to finish it, and it's slowly getting to the end :p

[Quatermass]

I've lost the drive to work on my other story ATM. I might get back to it before long...

[Jan Van Quirm]

Might be a blessing in disguise Q - save your energies, enjoy some downtime and gird yer loins for sprauncing up the compy novel when it gets back from your editor

[Quatermass]

Well, I managed to get workin' on my other novel again in a fit of activity. May not be able to work on it more today, but we'll see.

The problem is, JVQ, that I get antsy when I can't write. I get antsy and irritable. Writing withdrawal symptoms.

Sprauncing? Is that some sort of Cornish euphemism I may not want to know the definition for? I mean, you did say I needed to 'gird my loins' for 'sprauncing'...

In any case, loins being girded or not, I have to wait until my editor/target audience gets back to me. I know I have to replace the foreword and afterword, and generally tidy up the novel, add some more cultural and historical references to add some flavour, but I also need her opinion on anything else I might need to fix.

In other, semi-related news, I'm heading to Supanova this Saturday. Amongst other things, I'm getting an autograph from Will Elliott, the author of The Pilo Family Circus. Think of that as Something Wicked This Way Comes turned up to 11...

[Jan Van Quirm]

Well wikionary defines it as a verb - perhaps I should simply have said polishing up and not mentioned girding the loins at all

[Quatermass]

Well wikionary defines it as a verb - perhaps I should simply have said polishing up and not mentioned girding the loins at all

Yes, saying 'girding your loins' only serves to confuse things and give them a vaguely sexual air that's not needed. I mean, I'm all for a bit of sauciness in the English language, and there are appropriate times to use them inappropriately.

And BTW, sprauncy-was-defined-as-an-adjective-not-a-verb. *gasps* Sorry, my inner grammar Nazi, after looking at the page, saw that it seemed to be an adjective. But then again, adjectives are used as verbs anyway, and I think...(goes into semi-senile rambling about the vagaries of the English language, only to somehow get onto the infinite monkey theorem)...and the other monkeys both pissed and crapped on the keyboard!

[Jan Van Quirm]

I meant adjective but typed verb which is wot I wrote of course

[Quatermass]

:doh: I meant adjective but typed verb which is wot I wrote of course

Moral of the story? Never make mistakes in front of someone who would make it into the top three list of pedants, alongside Sheldon Cooper and Arnold Rimmer.

Anyway, I'll have to work on this other novel later today.

[Sister Jennifer]

Arnold J. might be pendantic but... If you're in trouble he will save the day, he's brave and he's fearless come what may, without him the mission would go astray. He's Arnold, Arnold, Arnold Rimmerrrrrrrrr!

[Quatermass]

Arnold J. might be pendantic but... If you're in trouble he will save the day, he's brave and he's fearless come what may, without him the mission would go astray. He's Arnold, Arnold, Arnold Rimmerrrrrrrrr!

Oh, sh**, I've set her off!

[Sister Jennifer]

Hahahaha!

Where's my revision timetable?

[Quatermass]

Hahahaha!

Where's my revision timetable?

I dissolved it using Lister's heavy duty vindaloo sauce.