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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.167.138
Posted on Monday, February 22, 2010 - 05:19 am:   

Just finished the first draft of the new novel. All 171,151 words of it.

Just wanted to share ;)

And so to bed.
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Skunsworth (Skunsworth)
Username: Skunsworth

Registered: 05-2009
Posted From: 92.26.196.109
Posted on Monday, February 22, 2010 - 07:26 am:   

Show off! :-)
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Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.27.30.20
Posted on Monday, February 22, 2010 - 09:02 am:   

170,000 words about Basil Fawlty's wife's singing! Excellent!

Nice work, S.
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Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch)
Username: Mark_lynch

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.171.129.69
Posted on Monday, February 22, 2010 - 10:45 am:   

Nice feeling, isn't it, Simon. Then a few hours pass and the doubts creep in...
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Stephen Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 194.32.31.1
Posted on Monday, February 22, 2010 - 11:28 am:   

That must be a great feeling, Simon. Congrats!
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.167.138
Posted on Monday, February 22, 2010 - 12:49 pm:   

Thanks, chaps. I can stave off the doubts to be going on with because I have reams of notes as to what needs to be done in the rewrites. So all finishing the first draft really means is a few days' break before the real work starts...
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Huw (Huw)
Username: Huw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 220.138.166.9
Posted on Monday, February 22, 2010 - 01:33 pm:   

Congratulations, Simon!
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Gcw (Gcw)
Username: Gcw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.167.117.37
Posted on Monday, February 22, 2010 - 05:57 pm:   

Well done that man!

gcw
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Weber_gregston (Weber_gregston)
Username: Weber_gregston

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 194.176.105.56
Posted on Monday, February 22, 2010 - 06:05 pm:   

Wow, 5:19 am. that's dedication to the craft...

congrats
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Colin Leslie (Blackabyss)
Username: Blackabyss

Registered: 02-2010
Posted From: 86.164.67.73
Posted on Monday, February 22, 2010 - 07:58 pm:   

Do a Dan Brown and give the second draft a miss
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Steve Bacon (Stevebacon)
Username: Stevebacon

Registered: 09-2008
Posted From: 90.204.111.236
Posted on Monday, February 22, 2010 - 08:57 pm:   

Nice one, Mr B!
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.167.138
Posted on Monday, February 22, 2010 - 11:38 pm:   

Thanks, everyone!
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Mark West (Mark_west)
Username: Mark_west

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.151.35.154
Posted on Monday, February 22, 2010 - 11:54 pm:   

Good for you, Simon, that's a monster!
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Joel (Joel)
Username: Joel

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 91.110.140.212
Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 09:14 am:   

The book sounds pretty substantial as well.

Good work, Simon!
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Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.27.30.20
Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 09:39 am:   

171,151 words = 17,115 lines consisting of:

"all work and no play makes jack a dull boy"

The one word leftover is "end"
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Mick Curtis (Mick)
Username: Mick

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.176.102.160
Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 09:45 am:   

Well done Simon!
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.167.138
Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 11:16 am:   

Mick, Mark and Joel- thanks one and all!

Gary... how did you know? Now I'll have to kill you.
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Allybird (Allybird)
Username: Allybird

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 80.47.103.170
Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 11:22 am:   

That's a lot of hard work, Simon - well done! And I haven't forgotten I owe you £15 :>)
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.167.138
Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 11:26 am:   

Thanks, Ally! I had forgotten, so cheers for reminding me... of course, if you want to knock it down to 10 quid you know how...
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Allybird (Allybird)
Username: Allybird

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 80.47.103.170
Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 11:35 am:   

Ha! You rogue...you. I remember that conversation last month.

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Stu (Stu)
Username: Stu

Registered: 04-2008
Posted From: 86.29.181.161
Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 05:07 pm:   

Simon, 171,151 words, eh? Last time I chatted to you that's the number of words you spoke before I managed to get a word in edgeways.
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.167.138
Posted on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 11:44 pm:   

Did I only manage 171,151, Stu? Bloody hell; I must be slipping. :-)
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.131.110.123
Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 11:13 am:   

'Just finished the first draft of the new novel'
- me too! Yesterday. What an amazing feeling, more sad than good.
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Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 129.11.76.230
Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 11:15 am:   

Fab news, Tony. Are you pleased with it?
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Simon Bestwick (Simon_b)
Username: Simon_b

Registered: 10-2008
Posted From: 86.24.167.138
Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 11:16 am:   

Yes. On the one hand the job's done; on the other hand this huge thing that's taken up such a big chunk of your life for so long is gone. Then again, of course, there's still all that lovely rewriting to do... :-)
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.131.110.123
Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 11:27 am:   

Gary - not really! But that said, I feel great in that I want to put a lot into it and take a lot out. I keep saying it's like putting up a washing line; it's not much good having just one hook put up - it's the one at the other end that makes the difference.
But yes, Simon, I will miss these characters and the place they lived. I'm glad of the rewrites, to be honest. I didn't want it to end. :-(
Such a rollercoaster of feeling; doubt, elation, never knowing which you were going to feel on any given day. I'd say it's been one of the best experiences of my life, and would urge anyone to try it. You find so much out about yourself.
But really, nearly three years? That's rubbish, isn't it?
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.131.110.123
Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 11:30 am:   

But yeah - about 150,000 words, too. Much will be trimmed; I want a slimmish, 200 page thing. Lot of elipses coming!
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.131.110.123
Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 11:34 am:   

And gotta thank Mark Lynch for all his text support; he's put up with some massive shit over the past couple of years.
(that sounds horrible, that...)
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Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 129.11.76.230
Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 12:16 pm:   

He's a good un, that Lynchy.

Well done, Tony. You should be proud of yourself.
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Protodroid (Protodroid)
Username: Protodroid

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 147.252.230.141
Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 12:31 pm:   

Congrats, Tony! A real achievement, that.
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Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch)
Username: Mark_lynch

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.171.129.68
Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 05:36 pm:   

Tony's kindly let me have some of his novel for feedback purposes. Some lovely writing in there, though there's too much tea making!

I've just finished the fourth draft of my fantasy novel. Got it down from 201,000 words to 161,000 now. Very soon I won't be able to improve it to any noticable degree for the work involved, aside from highlighting everything and pressing 'Delete'!
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Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.160.100.209
Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 07:13 pm:   

Do you guys leave audit trails of original versions, or delete the surplus material forever?
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Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch)
Username: Mark_lynch

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.171.129.74
Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 10:50 pm:   

Depends what mood I'm in. For this one I've seperate computer files for each draft and a great big filing box of paper copies, much abused with my scribbling on them. I copy the 1st draft into the 2nd draft folder and make the changes there, leaving the first untouched, and so on through later drafts.

Incidentally, for each 'draft', I'll go over each chapter on average three times, so I've got about 12 drafts, strictly speaking.

Jeffrey Archer claims to do 18 (or 21), I think it is. But as his biographer Michael Crick points out, 18 is one of Archer's favourite numbers. By contrast, Shaun Hutson says he likes to try and get away with one draft, hoping his editor doesn't catch any mistakes.

(As an aside, speaking of Mr H, I borrowed one of his books from the library recently and at random read bits out to my girlfriend Michelle. She thought I was making it up..!)
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Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch)
Username: Mark_lynch

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.171.129.74
Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 10:59 pm:   

You're a one draft guy, aren't you, Gary? Preplotting... Saves years of work!

I always find it interesting to see whose work is preplotted, whose isn't. I know Tony's isn't. Ramsey's said he plots 3/4s of his books and let's the ending work itself out.

I start without a clue for the most, see what happens with the prose and protagonist, find the emerging theme and how they dovetail together (assuming they do), and work from there. Plot and character are inextricably linked. The question a lot of bestselling master storytellers answer dishonestly is, what's more important, plot or character? If the writing's honest, they're one and the same... So I says anyway, and anyone says otherwise, I say 'Oh, ok, you may have a point', cos I'm a Libran, and we try to keep conflict to a minimum, find a nice balance.
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Mark_lynch (Mark_lynch)
Username: Mark_lynch

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 217.171.129.74
Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 11:02 pm:   

lets

By the way, Gary: did you get the parcel I sent you?
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Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.160.100.209
Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 11:03 pm:   

>>>You're a one draft guy, aren't you, Gary?

Well, one draft structurally speaking, but it's refined endlessly. I probably go through each chapter about 15 times, thrice on PC screen, ten times on paper, and then twice through the text-to-speech programme.
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Gary Fry (Gary_fry)
Username: Gary_fry

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 86.160.100.209
Posted on Wednesday, March 03, 2010 - 11:05 pm:   

Sure did, mate! Thanks! Will email asap. Off on holiday on Friday, but will be in touch.
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Huw (Huw)
Username: Huw

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 220.138.164.42
Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2010 - 12:35 am:   

Well done, Tony!
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Tony (Tony)
Username: Tony

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 81.131.110.123
Posted on Thursday, March 04, 2010 - 06:09 pm:   

Thanks, folks!
I don't worry about left over bits, or indeed the finished manuscript. It's the book in the hand that matters, the printed thing. Should it ever happen, that is...(I think it stood a better chance back in the seventies, with some Peter Goodfellow cover or some such.)
'though there's too much tea making' - that'll mean me snipping about a thousand words, then...
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 09-2010
Posted From: 86.177.161.215
Posted on Saturday, April 19, 2014 - 08:41 pm:   

Very pleased to report that I have a story in THE REVELATOR Vol. 138 No.1
The Bookworm Issue

Here: http://revelatormagazine.com/issue/special-bookworm-issue/
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 92.237.187.186
Posted on Sunday, April 20, 2014 - 12:09 pm:   

Great news, Des! I must get hold of that.
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 92.237.187.186
Posted on Sunday, April 20, 2014 - 12:11 pm:   

Oh, it's an online 'zine. I didn't realise that. Not heard of it before. Will check it out ...
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 85.255.233.207
Posted on Sunday, April 20, 2014 - 09:39 pm:   

Yeehaa indeed! I've been extremely impressed by the two short works of prose poetry I've read by Des in the earliest 'Best New Horror' volumes and will read this story with great anticipation. The man's writing is relatively new to me but, by god, is it potent. He seems to have a knack for communicating whatever exact thoughts were in his mind at the moment he wrote them with scary exactitude. It's like reading the innermost thoughts of a genius who sees the world completely differently from any of the rest of us and has the knack of getting this across with total honesty. Is he the new Franz Kafka? Who can tell? But he is almost impossibly talented. That fact is patently obvious!
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Carolinec (Carolinec)
Username: Carolinec

Registered: 06-2009
Posted From: 92.237.187.186
Posted on Sunday, April 20, 2014 - 10:23 pm:   

Stevie - get a hold of 'Weirdmonger' if you haven't already. Fabulous collection. Certainly one of my all-time faves.

Des - I really enjoyed 'Man of Bone and Fame'. A mention of my neck of the woods too - "somewhere near Bradford".
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 85.255.233.207
Posted on Monday, April 21, 2014 - 01:15 pm:   

Just read it. I'm growing to love these random samples of poetic genius I've been encountering without seeking them. Haunting stuff with a real feeling of wisdom in the words. That one felt autobiographical and very sad. Second hand book shops are like places of worship to me, too. Churches of a dying religion.
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Stevie Walsh (Stephenw)
Username: Stephenw

Registered: 03-2009
Posted From: 85.255.233.207
Posted on Monday, April 21, 2014 - 01:21 pm:   

And I've noticed the encroachment of CDs, DVDs and even board games into these places of forgotten pleasure. They have become like shrines to tangible nostalgia. Little private museums to the things that connect one to the world and the life that one has lived. My own house, I've just realised, has become such a place.

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