Full Steam Ahead

I am editing like all get out. I totally rewrote chapter 32 today. I added in an unexpected graveyard scene; I’ll have to read it in a bit and see how I feel about it.

I’m now up to chapter 34 for edits. Seven chapters left in my major edit, and I’m feeling really good about what I’ve done. The changes are definitely for the better.
I’m a little nervous, though, because I’ve cut down my word count considerably. I’m currently around 88,000, but I will certainly cut more in the remaining chapters. I might add some in though, too.

I need to flesh out the ending, I think. I kind of rushed through it in my excitement at being so close to finished.

I’d like the book to end up at around 90K. Of course, there are also many scenes where I could add some description. I tend to gloss over those, sometimes.

I’ve updated the version of the first three chapters on my blog, so if you get a chance, you might want to take a peek at them.

Giddy-up!

Um… I Just Wrote a Book!

Last night, I actually finished the final chapter of my first novel.

What a wild, crazy ride that was!

Of course, there will still be lots of work left to do before it is finished enough to do anything with it, but wow! I can’t believe I finished it!

7 weeks exactly from the day I started it.

Well, let the editing begin!

Final first draft stats: 92,595 words, 294 pages, 40 chapters

And then the climax!

I finished the climax scene of my novel last night. I am officially wrapping things up now.

2 or 3 chapters left at the most.

But there will be no writing today, because it is my second anniversary, and I will be hanging out with my husband today. 🙂

Stats as of late last night:

37 chapters, 86,239 words, 273 pages

That’s It, It’s All Over!

The NaNoWriMo Contest is all over. The fifth and final Golden Ticket has been found.

The website I joined for aspiring novelists ended its wordcount contest late last night.

I finished with 66,460 words for the month of November– a nice bit over the required 50K.

I finished chapters 31 to 33 yesterday, so my book now stands at 33 chapters, 77,008 words, and just under 250 pages.

I reworked my chapters outline (the first one I did called for 17 chapters *snort*) and came up with 41 chapters total. So far, I have stuck to that guide, with the last 3 chapters covering exactly what I’d expected they would.

If that estimate is correct, I have only 8 chapters left to write. That is simply mind-blowing.

The last chapter I wrote last night was the one I’d been dreading since I first started writing this. I think I am roughly satisfied with its vagueness.

It will, like everything else, require editing later, but right now I am focusing on powering through to the first draft finish line.

That’s Why…

Many years ago… long before I met my husband, I had an odd conversation with my boyfriend at the time.

We were walking down the streets of Ann Arbor early on a Sunday morning. The university was on break, so the streets were unusually deserted. There was only one other person in sight.

She was older than we were… probably around 40 years old and she was walking her dog and window-shopping the stores that were not yet open, walking in the opposite direction on the other side of the street.

And I had the flash.

I wondered whether my boyfriend would know what that meant.

“Do you ever,” I remember asking him, “see someone– a stranger– and just for a split-second feel like you’ve changed places with them? You see things from their point of view, see yourself through their eyes, and then become aware of something you hadn’t consciously realized about them? Like that the tag on the back of their shirt is really itchy or something?”

My boyfriend turned to watch the woman fading from sight behind us, shoulder twitching slightly, and answered, “No. And that’s why you should write books.”

At the time, and for virtually all time since, up until a few weeks ago, I’d had no intention of writing books. Not consciously, anyway. I suppose I remember this incident more than 10 years later, and that is probably saying something in itself.

The writing is coming along. I am feeling a little less worried. Many thanks to those that gave me reassurance. My book would definitely be rated MA. If it is published, it will probably be banned, but so are lots of books with something to say.

I’ve now finished 29 chapters and am approaching 68,000 words. I am starting to close in on the climax, so that is exciting. I’ll probably start writing that section in another 6 – 8 chapters or so.

Today I am worried…

I don’t know what it is exactly, but I am worried that my book is too darned dark.

I haven’t even revealed the worst secrets to my main character yet, and it’s already pretty awful.

How dark is too dark? When does a novel stop being entertaining and start being draining?

I hit poor Beatrice pretty hard with some twisted information yesterday, and she still hasn’t discovered the worst of it. Will anyone really be interested in reading about the horrors that have befallen her?

Today, I’m just not sure. *sigh*

But, regardless, the official wordcount validator is running now at NaNoWriMo and I’ve uploaded my November work into it for a total of 52,884 words and am now an official “winner”, so there’s that.

NaNoWriMo Winner!

Well, last night just after midnight, I wrote my 50,000th words since November 1st.

Total word count for my story is over 60,000 words. Yikes!

I’m also excited because I’ve worked out my last major plot problem (I think). I’m in the middle of Chapter 26 now and would love to crank through 27 tonight, but I’ve got a bit of real life to take care of today.

Struggling to Stay Awake

“The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair.”– Mary Heaton Vorse

I R Tired.

The last couple of weeks, it seems I do most of my writing between 10 pm and 3 am. This is partly because I’m alone and the house is quiet then, but that doesn’t seem to be enough reason to explain it.

Still, the current status is 23 chapters, 173 pages. As of 2:45 am.

Chapter 24 is still aching to be written. But I am sooo sleepy.

I’ll regret it if I don’t finish it though, so I’d better get to it. 🙂

Woo-frickin’-hoo!

So, the goal of the NaNoWriMo site is to write 50,000 words of your novel in 30 days.

NaNoWriMo starts on November 1 and goes to the 30th. It is the words I have written since NaNo started that you see in my word count. I do not count the few chapters amounting to ~10,000 words that I wrote before I found out what NaNo was.

The day I came home from work and suddenly began writing was October 18th. Today is the 29th day since I started writing.

And I just passed that 50K benchmark! My complete document of all I’ve written so far is currently 50,041. And my 50,000th word right now is “downstairs”.

I am somewhere near the middle of my story now. I’ll keep writing, of course.

I still need to write another 10K at least before the end of the month. And probably another 30 – 40K after that to finish the story.

Oh, and incidentally I reformatted my book to a different page size, so it is now 157 pages, instead of over 200. That will be cheaper for me to print it out when I’m done. 🙂