Draft 1 is Done! (an origin story)
Hot off the presses! The first draft of The Drop is done!
… and I feel like I’m going to throw up! Why didn’t anyone tell me that’s what this odd excitement would feel like? It’s a moment I’ve often thought would never come - and one I became more and more determined to see. Last night, 7:11 PM: “THE END.”
Of course, the novel has a ways to go. The book that will get published will and should be a very different one from the version I finished last night. With that said, the story has finally been told in its entirety. My characters are happy- well, some more than others. ;-)
It was climactic, definitely, but the nausea was surprising. It could be caused by the knowledge that I now have one less excuse - perhaps, THE biggest excuse - to not get this novel out into the world. I have a full draft done, and now the discipline, the craft and the grit must take over. I’ve gotten some great advice already on how to approach the next phase of work from the Twitter writing community, by the way. Any other authors out there can check it out in the comments section on my tweet here. What my writing communities have said resoundingly is that the journey from first draft to published novel is rife with self-doubt and external rejection.
It’s been told that J.K. Rowling was rejected by TWELVE different publishers before an independent publishing house decided to take a chance on young Harry Potter. I’m nervous about that, too. So, I’m going to take a beat and celebrate this major accomplishment: going from a blank page to 333 full ones in 5 years and 10 months.
I first set pen to paper, or rather keystroke to Google doc on The Drop on April 27, 2016 (6:11 PM to be exact). People always ask writers where their ideas come from, and for me, it’s usually in a dream. One night, I had a disturbing dream. I was at a party in some dystopic futuristic metropolis (which would eventually become the Hospital District for those of you who have read part of the book). Everyone could leave the party except me - hold the psychoanalysis please! - so when I needed a break, I went outside to the balcony. It was raining, but it wasn’t normal rain. It was this beautiful, neon-colored rain that fell in sheets from the sky and melted all the grass and plants in sight but didn’t harm me. Big fluorescent puddles had accumulated on the balcony. As I looked out over the moonlit horizon, the barren landscape was dotted by giant, black voids. As I stood there watching, new “holes” popped up every few seconds across the vast expanse. It was eerie and scary. I didn’t know if where I was standing was safe.
The whole dream was so vivid and frightening, that I woke up in the dead of night and started sketching what I’d seen. I sat with the images the entire next day, and later that evening, I felt like a sentence was fighting to get out of my brain. I didn’t know what to do, so I opened a Google doc, and I wrote the sentence down. Here’s that actual first line, with changes tracked. It’s still the first line of the novel. (PS - I’m still debating on the right version of that opening line, so if you have a preference, let me know.)
How it started:
This sentence would sit in that document for years to the point where I had forgotten about it. I didn’t even know it was the start of a story at the time. It just had to be written. Then, in 2019, I went on a mission trip to Ghana. On that trip, I took up the responsibility of writing our daily updates for our support systems back home. It became a newsletter, and for the first time since high school, I really let my writing side fly. The response from my tripmates was overwhelming: “You need to write a book!” That planted a seed in my mind, but it was immediately met with words of self-doubt. I didn’t think I had a book in me. What would I even write about? Who would care what I had to say?
Still that seed grew, and when I got home, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I could maybe write a book. That August, more than three years since I’d had the dream, I remembered that one sentence I’d written. I re-opened the dusty Google doc, and I decided to take one trip member’s advice and “just write.” I’ve been working on The Drop ever since. Flash forward 2.5 years to last night at 7:11 PM, when I finished the first full draft, clocking in at 333 pages (~66k words). Here’s a picture of that historic moment. Don’t worry: no spoilers. :)
How it’s going:
I’ve now proven to my harshest critic that I can do something I never thought I would: tell a story from start to finish. I could write an entire ‘nother book about what I’ve learned through the process to this point, but I’ll just leave it at this:
Yes, you can. Surround yourself with people who breathe life into your dreams.
I can’t wait for you all to read it and see what unfolds for Jonah, Cal and all the other characters. If you’re chomping at the bits for more, I’m humbly accepting volunteers for beta reading! Reach out at thewriter@rshopson.com, and don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter (if you haven’t already) because another “Droplet” is coming in just a few weeks!
- RSH
