Eiffel Terminé

By Michael Seese

(Per my French dictionary, that means "completed," rather than "dead.")

Exactly two months after typing the first words, I have completed the first pass of "The Secret World Of Gustave Eiffel." Total words to date: 57,323. For those of you keep score at home, it works out to just over 970 per day.

Not too bad.

So now it's on to Phase II. I think I'll take a "vacation" from Paris for a few days, and then get back to the daunting mountain of REALLY finishing it. The specific tasks will be:

1. Writing most of the detail in the first few chapters. Right now, they're basically placeholders.
2. Fleshing out details where I knew that I wanted additional description or dialogue, but didn't have it on the tip of my tongue. So I pressed forward, rather than lose momentum.
3. Finding the right word where I, likewise, did not have it "right there." (I call this an the previous my "digitial Post-Its.")
4. Making sure that there are no continuity errors.
5. Finally, making sure that, you know, it doesn't suck.

No problem.

My target for this effort is the week of April 22. That give my proofreaders some time to review and comment, a little time for me to implement the suggestions, and a few weeks (which I hope is enough) for the actual printing.

Tally ho!