Well, it’s done. Done and dusted. In a triumph of internal conflict overcoming external, my story has morphed from that of woman whose wedding for visa purposes falls through and she tries to marry a guy off the street (yes, I kid you not), into that of a risk-averse lawyer who falls for a risk loving climber. Weird huh?
Anyway, it’s an extremely rough and dirty draft and there was a moment there when I wondered if I could even give them their HEA (my poor hero had a particularly tough time). But they sorted it out and got there in the end. So, my last thing really is wondering whether or not to put in an epilogue. There is a thread in there that if I wrap up within the story, it will affect the pacing. Then again, it should be wrapped up (will he survive his climb or not??) and the logical place is to put it in an epilogue. Decisions, decisions.
May not make all that much difference if they don’t want to see the full but hey, I’m gambling that they will. Six weeks and counting, and considering that it’s holidays UK way, I’m thinking I’ll be waiting a while yet.
Anyway, what to do now??
Well done! I’m sure its only a matter of days before the full is requested, but until then? What I would do is:
*Relax, catch up on all those movies, books that are on my to watch/read list.
*Pamper yourself for your massive acheivement – have a massage, pedi, mani or all three! and most importantly….
*Shop!! Give the visa/mastercard a workout….
PS – I’m all for epilogues. I think, personally it gives closure.
woohoo!
What to do?
Drink heavily… unless like me it’s the heavy drinking that gets you through to the end.
=)
I like epilogues. Go on – live dangerously!
Days? Janette, if only! I’m thinking it’ll be another six weeks at least before I hear. As to what to do, all three of your suggestions warrant closer investigation. 🙂
Becca, heavy drinking has its charms that’s true. Unfortuantely hangovers have never been the same since I had kids. 😉
But yay for epilogues. I’m probably going to go for one.
Celebration time!
Of course they’ll want to see the full, positive thinking my dear!
I say epilogue it up. I need to have the whole story wrap up otherwise I’m tempted to start emailing people to find out the ending…
I would definitely go for the epilogue as it is a thread that needs to be wrapped up. It also will give the readers an opportunity to see how they are doing.
Editors will tell you if the epilogue is necessary or not. (I had to cut the one for S&S)
Hooray 🙂
I think put the epilogue in, if they don’t like it they’ll only get you to take it out…
Thanks all for your advice, ladies (plus the positive thinking, Lacey!).
Will go with the epilogue in that case. Definitely an appropriate place to put it. And I thought I was finished… 🙂
I love a good epilogue. And what to do now….mmm…Janet had the best idea. I would give the credit card a good work out. Congratulations on finishing another manuscript.
Thanks Felicity! You know what? I like the suggestions about a card workout. Great Uncle Visa hasn’t had an outing for a while so maybe I’d better do the decent thing by him and show him the sights of Auckland. 🙂
I’m an epilogue fan myself. Don’t use them all the time but secretly love it when it’s needed. I love reading em too!
Yay, Judy! Epilogues R us. Now all I have to do is write it.
Well done, Jackie.
Agree with everyone about the epilogue.
You’re right, everyone’s on holiday over here just now. Don’t think the English schools go back until the start of September. So I’m thinking NTAI shopping?
Argh! Oh well, Suzanne, I have a holiday at the beginning of September so that will give me plenty of time to NTAI. 🙂