It’s been quite a busy and hectic year for me, which was why it was especially sweet to finish up my first draft of JACOB WONDERBAR #2 yesterday. Whew!!! Other than spending more time polishing and then sending it to my editor for revisions and then possibly a round of revisions after that and then the copyediting and proofs all of which will total dozens of additional hours I AM TOTALLY DONE.
So now I have a very pressing question: how do you celebrate after finishing a draft? And if you haven’t had the pleasure of finishing up a completely draft, how do you envision popping open the proverbial champagne once you’re done?
My celebrations tend to involve sushi and my guilty pleasure: the computer game Civilization. How about you?
Mr. Chin says
I like to print out: caress it, flip it, spread it out in a fan and stare at it.
Oh yeah, I also email it to myself and a few other people to back it up.
Holly says
Congratulations, Nathan!
I just finished a novel and jump in with the sleep crowd. It feels fantastic to skip my 4:00 a.m. "wake up to write before work" ritual.
MOJO:
My Catholic friends tell me there's a tradition where people bury a statue of St. Joseph (the carpenter, patron saint of houses) upside down in the yard so their property will sell — or hang him upside down in the closet. The idea is to make him uncomfortable to he gets to work.
I extended this scientific theory to St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of writers. He's upside down on my fireplace mantle.
Ganz-1 says
To me, nothing beats long hour sleep after which I follow with either playing video games, watching movies or doing something else that has nothing to do with writing until I'm relaxed enough to start trimming those overcrowded bushes.
Kate Larkindale says
I always have that niggling feeling in the back of my mind that finishing is draft just means the beginning of revisions, so I don't celebrate much. Usually just a day or two off from my regular writing routine. And maybe a nice glass of red wine…
Josin L. McQuein says
I go the cheesy route and make a mock-cover. 🙂
Nathan Bransford says
d.g.-
It took me about 8 months.
Anonymous says
If I have money, I go on a walking vacation. Long beach, mountains,or desert sort of thing.
Walking is soothing and frees my mind and gets me back into life from all that being hardly in my body during the writing.
It is actually the best for me to live somewhere where I can walk on the earth while I am writing, but that too is not always possible.
Otherwise, I read and reread and reread it because if I have finished it, I want to get outside it, know it is beautiful from there too. I reread it obsessively, fall in love with it again and again.
(But I hates me editing. That is simply painful. It will be awhile before I can. So, to clear for this too, walking is very good.))
treeoflife says
Do a little fist pump, picture myself receiving a bazillion dollar advance, and then go buy a brand new pen.
But props to Civilizations. If over the last 15 years I'd spent as much time writing as I did playing various versions of that game, I'd probably have my bazillion dollar advance…
Beth says
I never have it in me to celebrate, because I know that I am not, strictly speaking, done. I mean, yeah, I finished the first draft, but I know full well that I have months of more work ahead of me to get the draft to the point where I won't be embarrassed to show it to people.
It was the same way for me when I graduated high school. I was like, "So what? I still have another four years of college ahead of me. I am not done."
Samantha G says
I go around telling everyone in a europic state before I contemplate writing the next draft. I also imagine sending it to an agent, getting an agent, a publisher and becoming the second author billionaire- don't judge me, it keeps me going. Plus, we all have that dream…
Martin Rose says
Drink. A lot. Sleep, watching several television series on DVD, watch a lot of movies, drink some more. It's like hitting a restart button. Once I'm done wallowing in alcohol and pulp entertainment, I'm ready to go on to the next thing . . .
Sundance says
Bwahaha. 😀 What do revisions and Civilization have in common? "Just one more round…"
B.E.T. says
I have a giant squeal fest to the nearest friend (or roommate) and tell everyone I know, then just relax and blow a bunch of money of sugary foods… Always the best tummy ache and added pounds of my week!
Melody Jackson says
I love to listen to my favorite music after writing a first draft, but then again I listen to music while brainstorming new ideas too.
Jenni Merritt says
I just recently finished my first draft of my first novel… something I have been trying to do for years (Thank you NaNoWriMo for the fire under my butt!)
I believe I celebrated by staring in pure, delighted shock at the screen for a few minutes, then clicking open World of Warcraft to turn off my writer brain. Yes, geek here. It was awesome!
Now I have to gather the courage to dive into editing…
Nicole MacDonald says
A minor 'happy dance' then onto editing ;p
The Arrival, book one of the BirthRight Trilogy, available on Amazon 1.1.2011
http://www.damselinadirtydress.com
swampfox says
I'll reserve my celebrating for when my books get published.
But my novel, THE VASE, is drawing a lot of interest from prospective publishers. I may, in fact, be celebrating very soon.
Fingers crossed.
Parisa says
For me it's always guilty pleasures foods that I wouldn't have on a regular day. Cherry cheesecake ice cream, sushi, my favorite restaurant's uber-buttery mac and cheese, drive-in burgers. And a good friend to enjoy it with. Then top it off with a girls' night and trashy tv. Finishing a draft is the best! Congrats on finishing wonderbar #2!
Other Lisa says
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!
Sometimes I open a particularly nice bottle of wine. If I'd done that every time I finished a draft of this last monster, I'd have no liver left.
Come to think of it, I have no liver left.
Actually, when I wrapped up the draft that went to the publisher, I took a trip to the other side of the planet (China) and stayed there for two weeks. I figured it couldn't find me there.
I highly recommend this approach.
Scott Marlowe says
I go to sleep early for a change.
Ashley R. Graham says
Since I've been working on my MS for three years now and have done several rewrites…I'll pretty much be the happiest person alive when I can say I'm done. I'm about 12K short of the finish line and getting there has been HARD. I think I might actually freak out when I type that last word. There's no telling what I might do.
Anne Devereux says
I celebrated the completion of my first draft by immediately sending a query letter to my favorite agent in the whole wide world, Nathan Bransford. The fact that he (that is to say, you) requested the first 30 pages by return email shocked me rigid. Only then did I realize it was nowhere near ready. It's still not ready … I reckon another year of revising. But when I DO finally get an agent, I have a bottle of Moet in my fridge. 😉
Leigh says
Firstly… Congrats and yay for you.
Me? I drink copious amounts of very expensive win that I have denied myself during the writing process and then I watch a couple of veggie chickflicks that I've seen hunderds of times before. Such a treat!
erica and christy says
Nothing really for the first draft. But a quart of Ben and Jerry's Frozen Yogurt with brownies for when I really think it's polished. Upon a publication deal, I'll probably up that to a few gallons. 🙂
erica
Heidi says
Most likely, I will cry from exhaustion and disbelief. Email my critique group. Start writing queries.
And then, I like dwkazzie's idea: wings and beer.
I'll keep you posted…
Mira says
Congratulations, Nathan! I'm so happy and impressed! That must be a wonderful feeling and a bit of a relief.
I admire you – you're so disciplined and responsible. For example, you can manage to have Civilization in your house and not have to quit your job because you can't stop playing it. And not only that, but you just switched careers, started a new job and you're still working on your MS in your off hours. Wow. I'd get home from my new job and wouldn't budge from my T.V. until it was time to go to bed.
When I finish a draft, I put it to the side, and don't let myself look at it for a day or so. Then I celebrate by planting myself in front of my T.V. and I don't budge until it's time for bed.
My life is very simple in some ways.
I'm going to be more like you, though, in 2011! Although not completely like you. You don't do things like change your profile picture on a weekly basis, which is almost as good as being disciplined, motivated and responsible, so I do have a few qualities I value!
I imagine that finishing any MS requires not only dedication, but courage and determination. Congratulations again, Nathan! I think you've definitely earned a very long Civilization break!
Mira says
You know I was joking about the profile picture right? I always worry that something I say can be misinterpreted as negative. I think you're pretty wonderful, and have many qualites I want to emulate, Nathan.
Although it is clear that you don't watch enough T.V.
Okay, stopping while I'm ahead.
Brooklyn Ann says
I go to the Powder River Saloon and drink with my blue-collar friends and slaughter my opponents on the dart board.
Lucinda says
I celebrate the drafts with a sigh, a pause, then start editing it.
Sometimes, I get a glass of wine, set the draft aside and write a poem…something deep and dark.
Margo Gremmler says
I'm about to finish a draft and send it to a list of beta readers. Once that's done, I'm going out dancing! It'll be much like a happy dance, but in public, with music, multiple times. Any Chicago writers with me on this?
Roscoe James says
Quiet reflection and a drink. I like to savor the moment, relive some recollections of the book I just finished, enjoy the feeling of accomplishment. Mostly because as soon as I sign the contract and an editor gets through with it I won't feel quite so accomplished.
RJ
Laurie Boris says
Congratulations, Nathan! Nearly all of my first drafts have been celebrated in the same way. Me: "Woo hoo! I typed 'the end'!" Husband (in a sarcastic tone): "Finally." Then I pour myself a glass of wine.
KH says
I start a good engrossing mystery novel, something to take my mind off my own work and enjoy someone else's.
Joanna van der Gracht de Rosado says
When I finished the first of many drafts, I was so excited… I actually thought my novel was done! Ha, ha, ha, ha! My writers' group took me for lunch and when I enquired who the extra place was set for, I was told it was for my protagonist. Amalia had become as real to them as to me. We spent a wonderful afternoon with Italian food and wine. I'll always remember it as nothing short of magical.
RobinC says
Shoes. Nice ones that cost more money than I usually spend on myself and nothing practical!(I'm more of a flip flop gal most days) And along with shoes, well, gotta get a mani-pedi.
The carrot I'm dangling for myself to finish the draft I'm working on now is a massage. All that sitting, typing, eye strain..ah the workout of writing. 🙂
Jil says
I succumb to a momentary "lightness of being" then get back to work.After my last draft, maybe fifth or sixth, is finished I feel a little sad, a little lost, then start on my next novel.
I guess one world or life is not enough.
Words A Day says
I'm yet to find out as I hover over the last chapter of my first novel but I imagine the best feeling would be to crack open a beer and start a new first draft of what I really really want to write!(with cliches! yahoo!)
Dana Michelle Burnett says
I used to have a smoke, prop my feet up, and enjoy a glass of fine wine. Now, that I've quit smoking, I still enjoy the wine and that amazing sense of accomplishment before I move on to the task of promotion.
C Riede says
I pushed myself to finish the draft of my first novel the night before my birthday. I woke up and said 'Happy Birthday, you wrote a novel!' I went out to dinner with friends that night and drank Aviation cocktails and told them what the novel is about, which I had been totally MUM about for 10 years!
wendy says
Congratulations, Nathan. Wow – you're a little Speedy G. I hope your Jacob Wonderbar stories are a great success.
I don't do anything when I've finished a first draft other than re-read what I've just done. I tend to revise for years before a work starts to take shape so reaching the end of a novel isn't that exciting. But that's in the past. Perhaps my next novel will be created and finalised in a speedier manner as my skills are more honed, and I'm more confident.
However, now I'm a full-time carer for my mother, the problem is getting any time to write. Looking after her and her property takes way more hours than a full-time job. I rarely get more than ten minutes to myself doing the day and night.
Kirsten says
I celebrate by taking myself shopping for a splendid little congratulations present: a bouquet of pink peonies, a new handbag, some pricey perfume etc. It keeps me going…
Lora R. Rivera says
I click PRINT!
It feels so old school and heavenly to print it out and hear it go plunk on the desk. I usually do wince a little, though, at the sheer amount of tree waiting for my return from an evening of good food – tapas, usually – and bold wine.
Ann M says
A whole bunch of smiling, relieved sighs, printing the draft (somehow this makes it seem even more real, and thus satisfying) and then hurrying up to tell my Mom, Dad, and sometimes-partner-in-writing sister that I just finished a draft! (this is usually promptly followed up with: "would you mind reading it for me?").
And congrats, Nathan! I was already eager to read the first JACOB WONDERBAR and now I can hardly wait knowing there's already a full book two out there in the universe! 🙂
kdrausin says
I'm surprised how many people celebrate by playing video games. Not me, when I finish our family goes to Carrabbas and then banana splits for dessert.
Amethyst says
I hit up a bookstore and buy books to stack on top of my growing TBR list.
Once I've gotten my fix, back to the laptop I go 🙂
Ben Wilson says
I gave myself a week of civ iv. Now on to the next draft!
R.D. Allen says
You never cease to amaze me, Nathan! Never would've thought you play Civilization, on top of all the other things you do. lol!
Celebration for me really varies, to be honest. While writing has stayed constant for a long time, my other interests change rapidly, though I tend to have a certain person who's work I am most interested in — whether it's an actor, or a vocalist, or writer — and I just celebrate by going through their stuff for hours. Mostly because I try to hold that back while I'm writing, so I don't get distracted from my work… haha.
Not to mention going through every social network I'm on and gloating about finishing something. ;D
J. T. Shea says
Have another draft as quickly as possible, of course! Oh, wait…You mean writing, not beer?
Your guilty pleasure is an educational computer game? Has anyone ever told you sometimes you make Hermione Granger sound like a hedonist? Although I don't remember her eating sushi. Seriously, congratulations! Eight months is pretty impressive considering the amount of other stuff you do.
Moi? I'll let you know when I finish the third and last book of my series. Although I've already redrafted much of all three books.
Kristi, a suit of armor? Your beta readers were THAT tough?
saffinadesforges says
Usually with a massive sigh of relief and a huge glass of Pinot!
Saffina Desforges
A.M Hudson says
Sleep, and those strange things outside called fresh air and sunshine–followed by getting straight back into it!