I finished typing up chapters 13 and 14 today. Here’s the official word count for the novel so far:
|
|
|
77,890 / 100,000
(77.9%) |
Since I’m averaging about 5000 words per chapter, and I only have three chapters left, that means that the first draft of the novel is only going to be about 92,000 words or so. Possibly less. I’m not worried about this in the least, as I always write short my first draft, and generally end up adding more words. And really, I know I need to add a lot to those earlier chapters. While I did considerable world building early on, there’s a lot more that needs to be done, now that I have some idea of what’s going on.
At the same time, I’m pretty clueless about what’s going to happen in the next chapter. There are a couple of things that have to happen, but a lot of it, well, it’s fly by the seat of my pants time again. Which honestly, I adore.
I hope to get back on a good writing schedule next week, which means writing Tuesday, Thursday, and possibly Friday night, then dedicating the entire weekend to writing. I may change things up for these last three chapters — instead of writing two chapters then typing them up, I may write one, then type it up, then write the next, etc. We’ll see how it goes. I’m also open to writing all three chapters up then typing them all out in one fell swoop.
God. I’m SO CLOSE to the end of this novel. I can taste it. I would REALLY like to finish it before my brother’s wedding (my father and other brother will be arriving on Feb 8th.) We’ll see how much I can push, if I can or not. February 15th is exactly five months from when I started this thing. I wanted to finish the novel in four months, but five is still respectable.
I still have a lot of rewriting to do as well. My next goal is to send the novel to my agent by WisCon, the end of May, which I think is doable. Keep your fingers crossed for me, though, that real life doesn’t interfere too much. I’m actually looking forward to the rewrites, mainly because I will be adding so much fun stuff.
Hey if you want writing nights this week I am all up for it I really need to finish my paper this week and I woukld be up for meeting a couple nights a this week. But no chatting like last time need to actually get work done…..
I’ll be at the tea shop on Tuesday for certain. And generally there isn’t a lot of talk on Tuesday writing nights. But I was still under the weather last Tuesday, unable to write how I wanted. If there turns out to be people there who just want to talk, we may split into two groups.
Hey if you want writing nights this week I am all up for it I really need to finish my paper this week and I woukld be up for meeting a couple nights a this week. But no chatting like last time need to actually get work done…..
I’ll be at the tea shop on Tuesday for certain. And generally there isn’t a lot of talk on Tuesday writing nights. But I was still under the weather last Tuesday, unable to write how I wanted. If there turns out to be people there who just want to talk, we may split into two groups.
fingers crossed! Good luck! What’s the novel about, anyway? I may have missed it on your earlier posts.
The novel isn’t historic fantasy — it’s a regular fantasy, set in my own completely made-up world. It’s actually the first book of a trilogy. The “hook” goes something like this.
The Six Kingdoms have a delicate balance of power: six kings backed by six Witches. Magic is forbidden to ordinary people. However, magic is now trickling back into the world, and a mysterious harp is calling more Witches into being. The guardian of the harp is eventually faced with a choice: to destroy the harp and strip the land and its people of all magic, or to tap into an ancient power so that every man, woman and child can reach their full magical potential.
Or something like that. . .
I’ve really enjoyed these posts, the whole sequence from the writing prompts to date. Yeah!
Thanks! And I just got your postcard in the mail today. Unfortunately, I’ll be in Portland for my brother’s wedding during the opening, but I’ll try to make it to the gallery before the end of February. Best of luck with everything!
fingers crossed! Good luck! What’s the novel about, anyway? I may have missed it on your earlier posts.
The novel isn’t historic fantasy — it’s a regular fantasy, set in my own completely made-up world. It’s actually the first book of a trilogy. The “hook” goes something like this.
The Six Kingdoms have a delicate balance of power: six kings backed by six Witches. Magic is forbidden to ordinary people. However, magic is now trickling back into the world, and a mysterious harp is calling more Witches into being. The guardian of the harp is eventually faced with a choice: to destroy the harp and strip the land and its people of all magic, or to tap into an ancient power so that every man, woman and child can reach their full magical potential.
Or something like that. . .
I’ve really enjoyed these posts, the whole sequence from the writing prompts to date. Yeah!
Thanks! And I just got your postcard in the mail today. Unfortunately, I’ll be in Portland for my brother’s wedding during the opening, but I’ll try to make it to the gallery before the end of February. Best of luck with everything!
Hi Leah,
Your novel sounds great!
Patrick has a schedule up for the writer’s retreat.
http://www.rainforestwritersvillage.com/
Check out the schedule and see if this might be a fun and useful weekend for you. I’m sure everyone would be so glad to see you!
I did take a look — I’m afraid that while it seems like it would be a lot of fun, I can’t afford it either from a financial standpoint or from taking the time off from work. Between my brother’s wedding, Radcon, and Norwescon, I have too much going on as it is. It’s a shame, I’d love to see ya’ll, but it just isn’t feasible this year.
Hi Leah,
Your novel sounds great!
Patrick has a schedule up for the writer’s retreat.
http://www.rainforestwritersvillage.com/
Check out the schedule and see if this might be a fun and useful weekend for you. I’m sure everyone would be so glad to see you!
I did take a look — I’m afraid that while it seems like it would be a lot of fun, I can’t afford it either from a financial standpoint or from taking the time off from work. Between my brother’s wedding, Radcon, and Norwescon, I have too much going on as it is. It’s a shame, I’d love to see ya’ll, but it just isn’t feasible this year.