Project 1 finished!

When I worked on Project 1 yesterday I reached 100 000 words and thought “I am nowhere near done!” I had over 20 000 words left to rewrite and that still only accounted for half the novel. But publishing a YA novel with over 200k words is impossible for someone like me. Then, while pondering, I re-read what I had just written and realized I had the end. The scene I had just written was a  perfect ending. The problem was that it was supposed to end a minor story-arch and lacked a climactic resolution. So I grabbed a scene from later in the novel and placed it right above the 100k ending. Perfect fit! All of a sudden it was done. Project 1 was complete. It needs a sequel, no doubt, but it’s a full circle. Even if I die tomorrow my work could stand alone. And guess what? It’s a happy ending. I’ve never written a happy ending before. All because I had to turn Project 1 into two novels.

Now I’ll take a break, write some poetry, hopefully a few short stories, and then edit Project 1 when I get back from America. I am feeling very positive overall. While I am still waiting for 3/4 of the agents I queried to get back to me a few who replied stated Project 2 seemed good and well crafted but they wished it was YA (why ever would people stop reading Science Fiction when they grow up?). Well here you go YA agents! I’ll query you on project 1 in 5 months or so. Hope you like it!

- F H Hakansson