Today I completed the first draft of a novel concerning the decay and transformation of a suburban corporate type. Next comes the fun process of going through each page in search of grammatical issues, plot consistency, character development opportunities...and a study of the overall threads, themes and metaphors that weave the story together. This process should culminate in the completion of draft two, and it is difficult to estimate exactly how long this might take. For now, I'm just saying, "winter."

So far, the process of writing this book is in keeping with the goal I established some time ago of writing one manuscript per year. A few months to write the first draft, a few months for the second, then perhaps some fine-tuning and reading by some objective types for feedback before aggressive marketing efforts aimed at publishing houses. I would like the marketing for the completed manuscript to roughly coincide with the brainstorming and development of the next manuscript. Assuming I continue the cycle started this year, the first few lines of the first draft of my next book would begin around early August 2010.

I’m pleased with the fruit of the new experiment I embraced this past August, when I decided to try writing at night with the goal of 1,000 words before bed. I kept this up for almost every evening in August, as well as the first portion of September. My pace slowed across the final two months of writing as events, emotions and distractions demanded more of my concentration, but three-and-a-half months from start to finish of the first draft is not bad at all for a guy with a full-time job and a family. I’m far from signing a publishing contract at this point, but I have given creative birth to something that will continue to grow.

And that's worth celebrating. Pass me that bottle of Merlot.