Writer Wednesday: The End is Nigh

So, my bookTaking the Gardener is finished, and within the next two days the revised version will be completed and ready to send off. I've already written about the concept of the finished book, but now that I've read it all the way through, I am struck by the way the story evolved beyond what I had originally imagined. This was my first long-form novel, so the entire process was fairly new to me.At the start, the progression from idea to completed book seemed clear. It moved from concept to plot outline and character profiles to writing the story - simple as that. Along the way, I met new characters and encountered some unexpected situations, which you can bet I'll be anticipating a bit more next time. In the early stages, my biggest concern was about the pace of the tale. Having set a target of 60,000 words, would I get there? What if the story ended long before that? Or maybe I'd reach the final word count and be nowhere near the end of the story! (What exactly do you do in that kind of situation? No, really, I'm asking.)As it was, I need not have worried, and reading back over the work I'm happy with the pace of the story too. There's always a fear that once the major conflicts/situations are resolved, and the needs of the principle characters are met, then the story will fizzle out. I was determined that there would be new situations right up to the end, and I set myself three end goals too. The end needed to be upbeat, but it should not be predictable. I also have some plans for the characters for a potential sequel, so I needed to set things up for that as well.In the meantime, I'm resolved to send the book to the publishers and then avoid driving myself crazy waiting for a response. There are more books to write, so the rest of this week will be spent outlining the next kinky tale.