Another 5600 words on Petra this week, bringing the total to 43,700.
According to my initial estimates, I’m now past the halfway point of the novel. I suspect, though, that this will be longer than 80K words when all is said and done. Nothing new there. My initial estimates are usually short. But I don’t think I’m too far off the mark this time. Given that I now have a better idea where I’m headed (see last week’s report), I think the finished draft might run to 90K, or thereabouts. Or not. We’ll just have to see how it plays out.
Had some very frustrating moments midweek, much difficulty staying focused. I had to spend longer than usual at the keyboard to meet my daily word goal. Some profanity was uttered. Mistakes were undoubtedly made. Self-deprecation and recrimination followed.
But then a ray of sunlight filtered through my literary darkness: I realized I had to kill some people.
And suddenly I felt better about the whole process.
So yesterday I killed a secondary character, a good guy. A rather tragic death, actually, if I did it correctly. Today, I dispatched both good guys and bad guys, and wounded a few more. There’s more carnage to come–not immediately, but the cast of characters will definitely be whittled down by the end of this thing.
These weren’t the first deaths to occur in the novel, but they were the first to happen onstage. They were quite satisfying. The stakes are rising, the gloves are coming off. I’m not pussy-footing around anymore.
And in less violent news . . .
One update for Write Club: Andromeda Spaceways bounced “The Amazing Martino” in the first round. Comments cited length, predictability, an unsympathetic character, and a lack of strong speculative content. Now where have I heard that last one before? This is becoming a trend . . . but not one that bothers me a great deal. In fact, it’s something I kinda like in my work. Hey, it’s what I write. Response time, four days.
Anyway, onward.
