First read

My first novel, written in a rush in just over a month. There was pride, there was elation, there was computer screen eye fatigue...now I had to read the thing.

As I mentioned previously, during the month of November I did not go back and read what I had written. One of the many lessons from On Writing was to shelter away your first draft and show no one the work in progress. It is just too rough, and you are already filled with enough self-doubt that you don't need anyone else reinforcing that feeling. You just need to lock yourself away until it is all done.

I included myself in that recommendation. I did not read back any further than a few paragraphs to pick up where I left off. I had to keep my head down and keep writing, and it was no time to edit or obsess. But now it was done. The time for revision was here.

I had intended to wait a month before reading it for the first time, but I was home for Christmas and had time at my disposal. And of course I was just excited to see what I had written. I held out until December 22nd.

I went to a copy store and printed it out on 8.5 x 11 paper. I bought a new binder and a couple of highlighter pens. I went to a Starbucks, bought a strong cup of coffee, and braced myself for what I would find. Of course I was excited to read it for the first time, but I knew I would find things that made me cringe.

I started reading it and marking up the page. I spent a long time of the first chapter, trying to tweak and rewrite sentences to paint a better picture. I don't remember how far I got before realizing that it wasn't working. I was getting too bogged down, obsessing over phrases and punctuation. I wasn't reading the story.

I ended up setting the notebook aside. I found a program online that would convert my Word file to a mobile format, and downloaded the book to my Kindle. There are ways to make notes on the Kindle, but it is more cumbersome than with pen and paper. Reading it as an ebook made it easier to just read. Of course I was making mental notes along the way, but the first time through, I just read.