Novel in Progress

I've reached a major milestone. Eden (or, more accurately, Furrows Through the Earth, the current prospective title) is now officially transcribed from longhand and is in manuscript form. 81 standard-sized pages with roughly 55,000 words (about 200 pages in book form), bound in a substantial cover and ready for the first of what will undoubtedly be many rewrites. I can't adequately describe how thoroughly satisfying it is to have this creation of mine in such a substantially tangible form, even if it's far from being finished.

Browsing through the manuscript on my train last night, I'm both satisfied and dissatisfied with the results. I'm quite happy with the narrative itself. I think it's a pretty good story, and I've been relatively successful in synthesizing several diverse historical themes. But while I intentionally tried to keep it minimalist and understated, I think the writing might be a bit too plain right now. I still don't think the descriptions accurately reflect the story's physical setting that I have in my mind's eye. And some of the themes need to be expounded upon, while others need to be downplayed somewhat to avoid them being too brutally obvious. It's what's left unsaid that makes truly great fiction.

Well, I certainly didn't expect to have a finished product already. This is all a process, and I'm sure my narrative will fluctuate quite a bit before I'm finished. But I think I'm off to a very good start. Now I just need to keep at it.