the last draft (maybe)

I thought finishing a near complete re-write would feel...more exciting? But I finished up my final sentences without much fanfare.

Even my dog couldn't be bothered to bark cheer. So, here I am done, and what do I want to do most?

READ it to make sure I didn't go completely off the rails and that the re-write makes sense. And makes this a better story.

Since this weekend is the last hoorah of the cold, I'm hoping to hunker down and see what this mystery book is all about. Because my memory of all the changes if feeling a bit unreliable. Like, did I REALLY re-write all of this?!

I've got the pages and word count to show for it. Now all I need to do is read. And edit a lot more. Probably.

I think the biggest lesson I've learned from all of this is that a book isn't any one thing. It's an idea and a plot and characters and conflict. But there are so many possibilities for all of the ways those can be explored. I honestly couldn't have imagined doing a full re-write before, but now I see how the other versions of this story opened up doors to get it here.

What are your thoughts on re-writes??!!

Also, little update on Night Soiree, the current other #WIP. 90k words, and so so close to finishing it up.