Squee Alert!

I finished the first draft of my novel today! 

/collapses back onto chair–squees with joy–collapses deeper in exhaustion/

It feels so good to be done with the first draft, for numerous reasons:

• It’s an accomplishment, one I’ve been heading towards for a year! Getting here feels great.
• It’s a relief. I had planned on it’s first draft only taking 90-120 days, but life imploded, slowing everything. And I discovered I hadn’t planned as well as I thought, necessitating extended writing near the ending. (Much of what I wrote near the beginning will be cut.) Wordcount blossomed into a veritable Jack’s beanstalk. So the “unending novel,” as it came to be known, kind of ate my writing life.
• It’s a joy, for now I can move on with other projects that have been stalled or impatiently waiting their turns for my full, undivided attention as I lavished nearly all my writing time on the novel. Like what? Editing contest stories written to first-draft form to an actual submission state. Upping my submission count, which has fallen perilously low. Finalizing the plan for the series that I want to write and probably self-pub. Keeping up with slush reading. Finishing the online writing class I’m taking. Resting my brain before diving into novel editing (which will be significant).
• For a short, short while, it’s one more thing off my attention radar. I’ve been struggling to maintain equilibrium with both life and writing of late, and this gives me a wee bit more breathing room without me feeling like I’ve “dropped the ball” on anything. Or disappointed myself.

In celebration, I’m officially giving myself the weekend off! Ooh, and it’s a long weekend, as well. What nice timing for lots of rest and lazing in the sunshine.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone! 🙂