Remember how I finished the first draft of my first novel back in September? I set it aside to work on short stories and plan to come back to it in December to begin the process of writing a second draft, which is a complete rewrite for me.
Now, I realize that I am the “paperless” guy, but I just had to see what the first draft looked like when printed out. After all, it is my first novel. So last night, I moved the draft from Google Docs into Scrivener so that I could compile a manuscript. I printed out the manuscript today and this is the result1:
The draft came in at 92,000 words, once I eliminated my notes from the manuscript. The printed draft is 390 pages long and looks to be over 2 inches thick!
I know it is a little silly to print it out, but there is something that feels good about actually holding the manuscript that I spent 5-1/2 months producing. And the paper will not go to waste. After I am done with it, it will supply plenty of great drawing paper for the kids.
- One of the Little Man’s many Hot Wheels cars is sitting beside the manuscript, paused in admiration of such a remarkably thick sheaf of paper. ↩
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Well, I imagine paperless is kind of like a fast or a diet. Every once an a while you splurge! I printed out my manuscript two sheets to a page on 8.5X14 paper that I found in the back of my closet. Like 4 reams, so I’ll probably print the next draft that way, too. It feels more like a book to me. Oh, and thanks Scrivener for the remarkable ability to format.