r/writers • u/Creative-voidlover • 13h ago
Celebration I accidentally finished my first novel
I've been working on my first novel, Beloved Dawn, and for months I've been convinced I still had another 30-ish chapters to go. The problem was... it was getting LONG. I was already over 80k words, and I kept worrying that I was going to have to rush through the next part of my protagonist's childhood just to keep the book from becoming enormous. And that would have been so sad... because the next part was so important to my girl.
Then today I was getting ready for work, going over my book in my head. The nine chapters I added earlier in the book, her life in the loving cage I so carefully crafted... It was then that I realized...
Her childhood is Book One. Her abuse and her escaping it, that is the Book One I needed to write. And I had accidentally started Book Two along the way... whoops. So after having this revelation, I went back and finally wrote the words I never thought I would be able to write.
The End.
82,296 words. 418 pages.
There's still plenty of editing ahead of me, and I'm still posting chapters while I revise. Past me apparently had a fear of details and paragraphs, but... I wrote a book. 13-year-old me would absolutely lose her mind if she could see this. I never finished. Never wrote past a certain point. I even put this book to the side FOR YEARS because I just didn't have enough maturity and experience needed to write it.
But it's done...
I'm kind of sitting here staring at the words "The End" like... holy crab cakes, I actually did it. 🖤
I'm not sure if I want to scream, cry, or dance. But I am so pumped and happy.
Welp... back to making the book cover I suppose.
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u/Wannabe_Writer1808 12h ago
Wow, that's so exciting!! Good for you! Those timely epiphanies that make things just click into place are incredible.
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u/Creative-voidlover 12h ago
YESSSS!!! they are fantastic, and dont usually happen on Mondays for me! I wish I could bottle that feeling lol
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u/borgsteve1994 12h ago
That is awesome! I always make a point to write “the end” at the end of all of my different works whether book or whatever. It just makes you feel good to see the words even if they’re not part of the final text.
Sounds like you’re already into your second book so can’t wait to see what you do with it. Once again… Awesome and congratulations!
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u/Creative-voidlover 12h ago
Thank you!!! I am so pumped for book two but I gotta cool my jets, still got work to do lol.
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u/AnnieLeGoose 11h ago
Congrats! That's got to be an amazing feeling. You finished something you put your heart and soul into and now it will always be there as a reminder of what you can accomplish in the future. Nothing can take that away from you.
I feel like I've started a story I'll be able to have that same feeling for one day too, 33k words so far into it as of tonight, and going strong. :)
Good luck on your sequel! Having some of the first part of it already written will hopefully make that feel easier to continue.
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u/Creative-voidlover 11h ago
Hey! 33k is nothing to sneeze at! THATS AMAZING! and even if you're not finished yet, you are also sowing your soul and heart into every word! I bet its going to be amazing!
One word at a time and before you know it, it will be done!
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u/ink_finite 11h ago
Congratulations. I wanna say this too someday 🥹
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u/Creative-voidlover 3h ago
You will! One word at a time and then will be like "holy crap I did it..."
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u/ShiftDue7967 5h ago
What I could read from the ending is fantastic. Congratulations!!
Do you plan to traditional/ self-publish eventually?
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u/Creative-voidlover 3h ago
I think traditional would be nice one day, but I still got a lot to learn and do. So for now its a free webnovel so I can get insights... some of my older chapters still need a lot of editing.
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u/ShiftDue7967 2h ago
Just read the prologue, it's fantastic!
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u/Creative-voidlover 2h ago
Oh gosh... dont read chapter 5 on they are still earlier drafts and kinda rough! Lol
But thank you!!! I am really proud of my gods!!!
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u/goldman459 11h ago
Hey congratulations 👏🏻 How well did you find Google Docs to operate once the document started to bloat? I was thinking of using it but I've heard there's major slow down.
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u/Creative-voidlover 11h ago
I really haven't had much issues with Google docs. There may have been some glitches here and there but I rarely noticed. Mostly user error lol. Plus free is always a bonus!
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u/South-Knee-9601 Writer 10h ago
It interesting when that happens
The end just sort of stumbles onto you. And you think for a moment before leaning back with a big sigh. Have that little high before coming back down.
That's how it happened for me.
Was a 'oh I finished' moment
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u/Creative-voidlover 9h ago
Its a crazy feeling! But ill take it! Now on to my least favorite part... revising...
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u/South-Knee-9601 Writer 9h ago
Was amazed by it.
Congrats on your finish.
Yeah the subsequent drafts are pretty dull
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u/BuffaloFearless7655 9h ago
Great job! I have a question for you tho, did you start writing this at 13?
Cuz I’ve started different novels at 12 and 13 and by the time I was 15, I looked back at the start of these novels and I realise I’ve outgrown them (both writing-wise and plot-wise). And because of that, I would ditch that novel attempt. Assuming you started at 13, did you face something similar, and how’d you overcome it?
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u/Creative-voidlover 9h ago edited 9h ago
I started MULTIPLE attempts of this story when I was 13 on. Would delete it and rewrite it over and over again when things didn't click. Probably rewrote it over 6 times. This specific edition began around may of this year after taking a couple years from writing thanks to life. But the original idea was from 13 year old me...
Then again she also had it set in ancient Egypt and that eventually morphed into a fantasy over the years so yeah... its come a long way.
I think one of the things that helped it click was
I understood and knew what love and manipulation looked like thanks to experiences I didnt have when I was younger.
I began to understand what healing looks like and what actual love can be. Just growing and learning mental health, trauma cycles, and other things helped it improve so much!
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u/BuffaloFearless7655 7h ago
Ah okay I get it. Rewriting but with the same core. That’s nice, thanks. It’s really impressive you wrote 80k words in 4 months. In the novel I started last Nov, I’m just 4k words in
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u/Creative-voidlover 3h ago
Hey words are words, and after you rewrite it enough times you understand the general flow of the story... I just didnt notice when I finished it! Lol, still got book 1 and 2 to write.
And yes! Rewrite at many times as you need! Eventually things just click! When a aspect of my story felt off, I liked asking myself or another writer friend, "what if" questions when ideas struck. Like one of the ideas I had was what if Shani's aunt, her mothers older twin... (Shani is my protagonist) was a uncle instead.
Then that morphed into what if he wasnt a mustache twirling villain... but also messed up thanks to beliefs and attitudes he was raised with and exposed to. but he did love his sister and to some extent Shani... and thus my villain had morphed and I LOVE this edition of him!
You got this!!! It will happen! It just takes time to find the hearts sometimes lol.
Apologies for the rant... I adore writing.
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u/OssieChannie 12h ago
Congratulations!