Draft Zero is Complete - Now Onto Draft 2

Exciting news - I have finished the first draft of my novel. At a whopping 98,000 words or so, it was a trek to get there, but get there I did. I'm calling this a Draft Zero as it is very, very rough, but it's all there and now just needs to be sifted through a careful refining process to create something intelligible and, I hope, enjoyable. The first stage of that has already started as I have plenty of ideas on how to improve the original.

For those interested in what I know I've got wrong, this is what I know I need to fix already:

• Character motivations need to be clearer. There are times they do things for no apparent reasons, so I need to work those reasons into the story.
• The plot needs to weave and dive a little more. The first draft is very "A+B=C". I want to screw with the reader's mind a little more and throw a few more letters into that mix. Hey, maybe even a number or two, just for the fun of it. So instead the story looks like this; "A+B*J/5-T=GD7~"
• More romance! Yeah, I know I'm not writing a romance, but it needs a bit more of it. Otherwise who give a hoot what happens to the individuals involved. It will also give them that ever elusive "emotional depth".
• A little more atmosphere; I have a whole world I've created but it needs more grounding, and a sense of place.

These are just some of the (many) things I know I need to work on, but that's what the drafting process is for. As for stuff I like, well the story itself has grown as I've written it and is going to expand further than I thought initially. Whereas I set out to make this a small family matter it turns out it's going to effect the whole country the family live in. This is a good thing though, as it makes the stakes that little bit higher. And I love my characters. They are pretty distinct from one another and I particularly like how they all come together by the end. Though even that could be better! (I'm a perfectionist)

Still a draft 2 to go...

At the moment I'm not really feeling jubilant, as I see how much work there is to come. But I'm definitely feeling confident that this might, just maybe, turn into something worth writing. Whether it's worth reading remains to be seen...

Oh, and I think I may have a title. At the moment it's "Where the Wolves Run Free". It's a bit long for a title but it fits with the story and the themes. Just don't hold me to it as I'm notoriously fickle.

Wishing you all equal success in your creative endeavours. Write on!