Draft Done!

Before I talk about me, let's talk about Marty who got a job offer! 

Yay! I probably should actually understand what the firm does before I talk about it...

What I do know is its in Littleton, Colorado (also offices in Philly & global).

Ok, after a little internet research they're a 

"global leader in financial risk management and specialize in the debt and derivatives market." 

Marty will be in the real estate department and work in valuations (possibly).

And before you say, "that sounds a lot like what Dan does" know that yes, Marty is interested in real estate, but when Dan offered to make some calls leading up to various interviews with firms he had connections with (actually not this one), Marty declined because he wanted to know he got the job on his own merit. 

I think that's pretty great.

Congrats Marty and Lizzie!

I woke up early this morning and it was raining so did a Peloton workout in the gym.

(Do you love that so many hotels have Peloton now?!) Once again, I was the only one in the gym.

But a wedding party arrived today and I saw lots of grandmas and grandpas and parents and children pushing their luggage down the hall on every floor. So, I avoided a Jack Nicholson movie this time.

Got to work by 9:00 a.m. and when I got sleepy around 11:30, I resisted lying down, even for just a second, because I had a massage to look forward to at 3:00 and would get to shut my eyes then.

Wrote 4,000 more words today and... My second draft is officially done!

I did a little internet research on "what is a first draft"

because does it have to be your best work to be considered an official first draft?

And the answer is no, it doesn't. It can be all sorts of messy with plot holes and poor grammar but it does have to have a beginning, middle and end. 

After that, when you go back and edit and fix the order of things and fill in the blanks, that would be considered a second draft.

So in reality, I pretty much had my first draft done two years ago when I did NaNoWriMo, 

although I didn't know it.

And now, after this week, I have filled in the gaps and have an entire story.

The first half was even refined for the submissions I made in my classes last year.

The last half that I just completed still needs setting, body language and more showing instead of telling to polish it up, so I start on that tomorrow. When I finish that, I'll send it to my writer's group and an instructor at UCLA for fresh eyes to spot gaps, things that don't make sense and character problems--where we need more from a character and where we need less (probably less crying!) and what actions just don't seem to fit their personality.

Also improving sentences, using more action words and getting rid of "to be" verbs. 

And fixing, fixing, fixing my first two chapters that are really complicated. 

But the story itself has an order, logical steps forward, a plot that makes sense and has meaning (to me at least) and an ending that I feel good about!

Good job, Me!