I’m almost to 12,500 words, which would put me roughly 25% into my novella. Right now things are slower than when I started, which is natural, but the dramatic arc is picking up right where it should be. The first quarter of a novel is often backstory – putting the pieces on the chessboard and setting things up for later.
Right now there are a few pieces on the chessboard – a few events which lead into each other. Now is the time when I start to take those pieces and really have them do battle. I’ve got the plot started, now it’s time to get the ball rolling and see where it goes.
I have the beginning, and I know roughly where the ending will be. Now I get to let my characters do the driving, and where they go I really don’t quite know yet. That’s the really fun part about writing… all I have to do is go along for the ride…
“I’m almost to 12,500 pages”
and here comes the new bible!!
“Words”, I think (hope!) he meant to say. 🙂
Whoops… 🙂
12,500 pages? My god, are you trying to outdo Ayn Rand?
Well, I’m not participating, but I should have a new column up tomorrow on the topic- there are some great titles in the listings on the site… 🙂