In Today’s Journal
* The Novel Wrapped
* Of Interest
The Novel Wrapped
Well, the novel wrapped yesterday with a little over 43,000 words.
I didn’t keep track of the specific writing days like I used to, but I started writing it on July 8 and it wrapped on August 6. So a couple of days under a month. So an average of something around 1500 words per day.
Maybe I’ll take the time to update my Annual Production spreadsheet, but probably not. Writing the next story is the priority. That and I have a few things to do around the house and yard while the weather’s halfway cool in the mornings during the monsoons.
You can follow along with the novel at StanbroughWrites. If you haven’t subscribed yet, it’s free and I think this is my best novel to date (as it should be), so if you study my fiction, as the Brits say, “Bob’s yer uncle.”
Go here to start the story with Chapters 1 and 2.
The installments are all pre-posted to go live every other day. The last installment, with Chapter 36 and a short epilogue, will go live on September 17.
Hmm… actually, the novel wrapped the first time the day before yesterday at just over 42,000 words, but the last few chapters almost made me physically ill.
My first reader had generally the same thought about the same chapters, so I trashed those chapters and wrote new ones.
This is the situation I talked about in my previous post—“On Authorial Integrity”—and in that post I wrote that I’d “be back in a few days with a specific example of how very wrong a seemingly authentic story can go as a result of sharing your WIP.”
The thing is, I can’t really do that without blowing the story apart for those who are reading the installments.
So instead I’ll do this:
The big turning point in the book occurs in Chapter 32 when, in both versions, the male lead comes to a pivotal point in his character arc. Naturally, the remaining chapters unfold based on his decision in that moment:
- In the original version, he fails his character arc (he doesn’t grow) and the remaining chapters unfold accordingly.
- In the new version, he grows, and again, the remaining chapters unfold accordingly.
So if you want to study my work
and if you’d like to see an even more thorough example than I could possibly provide here in TNDJ, email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com and request it.
- I’ll send you two PDF files, one named BO-54 OLD and the other named BO-54 NEW.
- The first file will contain Chapters 32 through 35 and the epilogue of the first version of the book (4996 words, the chapters and epilogue I deleted).
- The second file will contain Chapters 32 through 36 and the new epilogue of the final version of the book (5956 words).
- Before you study them, I suggest you read or reread “On Authorial Integrity”.
The first three-quarters (or so) of Chapter 32 will read the same for both. Only the last quarter is significantly different.
Curious? Email me.
Note: If you’re also reading the installments over on StanbroughWrites you’ll only see the finished product (the new version).
Of Interest
Dear Artist, Please Read This Before You Need A Lawyer Invaluable advice. (Thanks to Gary V for this link.)
Writer’s Conferences: Where and How…