Stronger than Sin — a rough draft to be proud of

So i finished the first draft of my second novel today. It feels good to know that i can write a whole 400 page (12 point, Times New Roman, double spaced) novel in less than five months.

Andrew Kline yawns, rubbing his eyes, when the wheels of the plane he is in connect with the runway below.

I wrote the first sentence to this novel from the window seat of an airplane, on my cellphone, as it came in to land at LAX in August 2018, but i didn’t touch it again until November 1 when NaNoWriMo started. Then for all of December my computer was broken, and until mid February i had only added about 20,000 words to the initial 50,000 from November. Since about February 22, though, i have cranked out more than 60,000 words, and the rough draft of my second novel is finished.

A couple things to say about it. It is a romance novel, because the plot outline follows the basic plot outline of any movie you find on Hallmark channel, but i try to keep it suspenseful throughout. I guess only after it is finished–October (fingers crossed)–will i know if i accomplished my goal. But in the grand scheme of things, it is a Christian novel. I’ve read many how-to books on dating, from a Christian perspective, so i wanted to try to write a story that demonstrated what i believe is the biblical way to go about the process. And no, my characters are not perfect, so there is plenty of places for logical, realistic suspense.

But all that to say, i showed myself that it is possible to write a novel in less than a year. Really, it took me less than three months of dedicated writing time. I was lazy in January, and i was mostly lazy in February. So, i’m excited to be able to begin a new novel project–before/while editing this one–over the summer. April and May require my writing focus elsewhere.

Soli Deo Gloria