Wednesday 11 July 2012

First Draft Finished! And Tentative Title Reveal.

So... after nine months and a few stops and starts, I finished my WIP thriller first draft this morning, coming in at 77,270 words. Slightly under what I was expecting, but I think I did everything I needed to do. My CPs might have other ideas!


I guess the honeymoon is over. Now I have to spend time getting to know my manuscript upside down, inside out, warts and all. Hopefully, I will be able to deploy some laser edit surgery to smooth over at least a few of those warts.

I also came up with a title. Just the one so far. I previously wrote about how I can't come up with titles, so I was pleasantly surprised when this occurred to me. It's kind of a play on words although I'm not sure if it really works. Anyway, drum roll:

The Memory Cell

The Blurb:

Helen Crossdale is a career-driven woman who doesn't think she has any room in her life for love. But when she accidentally runs a man over, she feels a strange attachment to him. The man has no identification, and when Helen is let off charges with a warning, she goes to the hospital to see him on a whim. She claims to be his wife in order to be admitted to the ward; when he wakes up with no memory, she continues the facade.

He is discharged and she takes him to a secret flat in order to avoid detection, but others are on her trail. And as her "husband"'s real memory starts to come back, can she keep her own sanity?


I'm happy to hear any further suggestions on titles! If I choose yours, I'll be sure to give you due recompense in the course of time.

I'm now planning on taking a few days off to catch up on as much as sleep as I can, and then I'll start on other stories and projects on Monday while I gather feedback from my CPs.

Where are you at with your writing?

40 comments:

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

Congrats on finishing the ms! And I like the title. :)

I have trouble coming up with my titles, too. I usually just have a working title, named it after the protagonist So, lately my husband comes home and says "How was 'Norah' today? Did she give you any toruble?" Yes, our household is weird like that. :)

Kyra Lennon said...

Yay for finishing! Can't wait to read the full story!

Now go and rest for a while!

Julie Dao said...

Nick, we have almost EXACTLY THE SAME WORD COUNT. Creepy! Congratulations on finishing your draft!

Jessica Nelson said...

Woohoooo!!! Congrats on finishing and on the title. The blurb sounds interesting. :-) Have fun with rewrites!
I'm still working on my WIP rough draft. Ugh.

Elise Fallson said...

YEAH! Congrats on finishing the first draft of your wip! The blurb reads really well and sounds very intriguing. Can't wait to read the book when it's done!!! :D

Ashna said...

Congratulations on finishing the first draft! It sounds really interesting from the blurb! :)

Annalisa Crawford said...

Congratulations on finishing the first draft. I like the blurb. Enjoy the re-drafts! :-)

L.C. said...

Congrats, Nick! That's excellent news! The blurb sounds great. (In the first paragraph did you mean, "claims to be his wife"? :-))

Hope Roberson said...

I really like the title! I am not so great at them either, but my new WiP is giving me so many as I write it this go around, it's crazy! I'm doing the 7x7 link award today. It was fun! Thank you and enjoy your sleep :)

Martin Willoughby said...

That is a good title based on the blurb. If you're looking for other suggestions, how about 'Memory Sell' as she's selling a memory. Just a thought.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Good title, and, from the blurb, your story has a cool premise. It's sounds like a ook I would want if that was book jacket. Good luck with your rewrite. You may find you enjoy revision more than you are expecting too. You know the whole story now.

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

Ick, please excuse spelling errors and omissions. My iPad has a way of jumping the gun.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

That sounds twisted! Great title. Really fits. Congratulations on finishing it.

Suze said...

That sounds 'Misery-'esque and creepy!

An excellent job with the blurb and, from first impressions, a suberbly apt title, Nick.

Your word count is well within industry standards for your genre and I expect as you get past the honeymoon, your revisions will prove very satisfactory.

Onward!

Krista McLaughlin said...

Congratulations on finishing! :) It sounds pretty good!

Stu Ayris said...

Much congratulations mate!! A wonderful achievement - looks really intriguing too! I will most certainly be getting it!!

Where am I with my writing? Well after several revisions, the manuscript of my new novel - The Bird That Nobody Sees - is being currently proofread. I'm hoping to release it on Monday 16th July - if I can get the pesky cover sorted that is - so close yet so far!!!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on finishing. I like the title and the blurb. That's quite a teaser. Good luck with the feedback and revisions.

Stina said...

Congrats on finishing the first draft. It sounds like the movie WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING, but that was a romantic comedy.

Yours sounds great!

DL Hammons said...

I like that title! Congrats on finishing it up! :)

Jay Noel said...

Way to go man!!!!

Now for the next part...editing.

Katrina Sommer said...

Nick it sounds great!

Unknown said...

Cool premise. I like The Memory Cell as the name. It fits the burb rather well. I'm sort of thinking this book might have some Alfred Hitchcock'ian vibe. I could be totally wrong, though. haha

Well, I applaud you for finishing! Great job, sir!

Lisa Regan said...

Wow! It sounds so intriguing and I love that title given the premise. I'm sure you'll add words as the editing process goes on. I loved "edit laser surgery" hah hah hah. Wish I could do that. Congrats on finishing--it's a great feeling! Enjoy!

dolorah said...

What beautiful words: The End.

Love the blurb, and the title works. I still have two books of a trilogy titled Book 2 and Book 3. I'm pretty sure others have already thought of those . .

........dhole

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Congrats on finishing that first draft!!!!!! The blurb sounds great and the title seems to fit nicely.
Woo hoo! I hope you celebrated (other than by sleeping)!

Nick Wilford said...

Madeline - Thanks! Funny story. That's not a bad idea!

Kyra - Thanks! Just hope you like it!

Julie - Lol, that's weird. Thanks!

Jessica - Thanks! You'll get there. Enjoy it. Revisions give me headaches!

Elise - Thanks! I'm looking forward to yours, too. :)

Ashna, Sally - Thank you!

Annalisa - Thanks! Hopefully I can deal with the cringe factor from reading my own stuff, lol.

L.C. - Thanks! Yikes, I'm glad you pointed that out - it was lifted from a description I wrote quite quickly in an email. That'll teach me not to proofread before cutting and pasting!

Hope - That's good you've got plenty of titles! I'll look forward to reading your 7 x 7. :)

Martin - Thanks. Nice suggestion - I'll think about it!

Elizabeth - Thanks, I'm glad you like the premise!

Alex - Twisted is how I like to roll. ;) Thanks!

Nick Wilford said...

Suze - Thank you. I thought someone might mention Misery, that had occurred to me too! I think it's subtly different though. I hope the revisions go well!

Krista - Thanks! :)

Stu - Thanks! I hope it'll be available sooner rather than later...

I can't wait to read your new book. Didn't realise you were releasing it so soon! And the cover looks pretty good to me!

Medeia - Thank you, on all counts! :)

Stina - Someone made that comparison before, but no, mine's definitely not a comedy! Thanks!

DL - Thank you sir!

Jay - Bring on the edits!

Katrina - Thanks! Glad you stopped by. :)

Julia - That's an interesting point, I hadn't thought of that. Thanks!

Lisa - I might have more to add as I think my draft is a bit "bare bones" ATM. Thank you!

Donna - Thanks. I just think it's cool you've written a trilogy - it's not something I can envisage yet!

Lynda - Thanks! I'll try to have a proper celebration when I'm totally finished! Well, sleep didn't really happen last night as my stepdaughters had friends over and they all decided to stay up as late as possible... which then woke the toddler up. Lol, the holidays are fun! :P

JeffO said...

Congratulations on hitting the end! I know that's a good feeling for sure. I angst a lot over titles--I worry over it and worry over it, and then, at some point in drafting, I find myself mentally referring to the WiP as this or that. Eventually it sticks. Whether it will stick through publication is anybody's guess.

Take a day off! You've earned it.

Mina Burrows said...

This put such a smile on my face! I'm so happy for you. It's sounds really intriguing too.

nutschell said...

Hurray! Congratulations on finishing the manuscript. I know how wonderful that feeling is, especially if its your first draft. :)

Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com

Emily R. King said...

Ah, the end of the first draft. Congrats to you! Now comes revising... :)

C.B. Wentworth said...

Congratulations! :-)

Sounds like a great story!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Fantastic that you're done with the first write! The blurb is good, and Memory Cell brings to mind being trapped in memory, or due to memory, which seems to fit.

Nicole said...

Huge congrats to you! That's such an accomplishment, and I like the title. It's got just the right touch of tension to it.

Trisha said...

Congrats on finishing!! That is such a great feeling :)

Nick Wilford said...

JeffO - Thanks! If the title sticks then maybe it's meant to be.

Mina - Thanks! You put a smile on my face too! :)

Nutschell - Thanks. It did feel good!

Emily - Yep, still lots of work ahead. :)

C.B. - Thank you!

Shannon - Thanks! Glad you like the title.

Nicole - Thanks very much! Means a lot. :)

Trisha - Cheers. :D

kjmckendry said...

Congrats Nick! I love the title!

Lola Sharp said...

CONGRATS on finishing your first draft!

Just wait until you're on your 8 or 9th draft of that sucker. ;) Welcome to revision hell. :D

Kim said...

Nick,
My sincere congratulations in finishing your first draft. What an accomplishment! Sounds like an interesting story - enjoy the revisions! :)

Nick Wilford said...

Kathy - Thanks! :)

Lola - I know, lol. It's probably going to need several polishes! Thanks!

Kim - Thanks very much. I'll try! :)