Yesterday I completed the first draft for the new book -- the one you lot should get in 2012. Over the next eight weeks I intend to turn this into something that's good enough to be delivered to She Who Matters (aka the agent). I'll try and take you through this process as it happens. If there's anything you see as an insight in this fumbling process feel free to take it.

Here's where I stand at the moment. The manuscript is as you see it about -- at 113K. The draft target, originally, was set at 110K. I changed that to 115K a few days ago when it was apparent this thing would run a bit over.

That number is of little interest to be honest. A book of this kind could run anywhere between 105K and 125K with no problems. What matters is that it works, that it is shorn of fat where necessary and beefed up in any areas that are weak.

<!--more--><img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3531" title="Screen shot  2010-03-24 at 16.25.29" src="http://davidhewson.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/screen-shot-2010-03-24-at-16-25-291.png" alt="" width="302" height="242" />Also I should make a confession here. When I say it's finished that's not strictly true. The final two scenes, both quite short, are there only in very rough note form only. Little more than outlines about what they will contain.

I often leave these closing sections to the very last revision process. I'll be editing the entire manuscript, word by word, line by line, in the meantime. It will be highly unusual if I don't see something during that process that will allow me to improve other parts of the story. Those closing scenes in particular. So the last sentence isn't written even though, in my head, the first draft of the book is most definitely done.

What do I do when I reach this stage? A few things. I'm religious about backups. My documents folder gets backed up locally and online once a day, and I use Mac's Time Machine facility too. But at this point I want an absolute snapshot stored elsewhere in case of emergencies. Scrivener makes that dead easy.

<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-3529" title="Screen shot  2010-03-24 at 16.33.56" src="http://davidhewson.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/screen-shot-2010-03-24-at-16-33-56.png" alt="" width="280" height="381" />Just go to file and hit Backup Project. This will let you save a zipped version of the entire book, and in my case that will go in a Dropbox folder. Once that's done the house could burn down and I'd still have a secure copy of the original, easily accessible from elsewhere. The other backups are still there, of course, and this is an entirely illogical exercise in some ways. But it makes me feel better.
Next I look at any prelims involved. Quotations or extras the book may require. These are simple things. I often put them in during the writing process. Occasionally I change them or take them out entirely. It's no big deal, and there's no point in having them unless they mean something.

But more of that tomorrow.

According to my book diary this project got under way on November 29 last year with a simple note outlining what it was going to be about and a rough idea of the story. That, I'm happy to say, is a pretty good reflection of what I've ended up with. Getting to this point has taken around three months of pretty constant work with two research trips to Venice. Most books don't happen this quickly. Why has this one?

Perhaps because I had the idea set very clearly before I started. And also because this year I've done a lot less travelling than usual. Twelve months ago I was on a two week tour of the US which took a big bite of the schedule.

Anyway, that's where we are. This book is nowhere near being fit to be seen by another human being. But in my head it's achieved a kind of completion, even though there's a lot more work, and one more trip to Venice, to come before it can remotely be considered 'done'.