Hey Folks,
Oof. Woke up out of sorts this morning. As a result, I didn’t start on the story until late. This almost always happens as I get near the end of a novel, long or short.
This will be a short novel. (If you’d like to see my definitions of various fiction lengths, email me at harveystanbrough@gmail.com. I’d be happy to send it to you.)
The numbers below include things I’ve cut as I cycled back each day. The novel will probably come in (published) at around 33,000 words.
I think I have only two or three more scenes to write. We’ll see what happens through the day.
***
Well, better than I thought. I finished the novel at 1:30 with around 2600 words. So it’s all good.
Topic: Reverse Outline
Just for grins, I did a word count on my reverse outline for this novel: 1650 words. Of course, those aren’t counted below in either fiction or nonfiction.
This thing saved me more than once.
It’s just a little Notepad (text) document. At the top, under NAMES I listed all the characters’ names and which chapter each one’s description appeared in.
Below that, under PLACES, I listed all the major settings in the book and, again which chapter the description appeared in.
You ground the reader in part with a good description of the setting through the POV character’s physical senses and that character’s opinion. When the setting pops up again later in the book you have to ground the reader again so where to find the original description and which character is the POV at that point is good to know.
Then I listed the chapters. There are currently 28. That might change as I read through it over the next day or two. Some of the chapters seemed a little long to me, so we’ll see.
With each chapter entry, I started with an abbreviated form of the hook and opening, briefly described what happened in that chapter (past tense because I’d already written the chapter), then ended with the cliffhanger that I hope will keep the reader turning pages. (grin)
So that’s one form of reverse outline in case you’d like to try it.
***
I’ll probably take off tomorrow and figure out what I want to write next. With all the days remaining in March, I have a real shot at writing another novel this month. (grin)
If I don’t write tomorrow, I probably won’t file a new edition of the Journal.
Be back soon.
Of Interest
See “Write an Essay, Win a Bookstore” at https://the-digital-reader.com/2018/03/06/write-essay-win-bookstore/.
If you’ve ever thought about writing serialized fiction, take a look at https://www.radishfiction.com/writer.html#apply. Be patient. It’s a process.
See “John Grisham’s 8 Do’s And Don’ts For Popular Fiction” at http://www.thepassivevoice.com/2018/03/john-grishams-8-dos-and-donts-for-popular-fiction/.
For fun, see “Just how monstrous is the Sun’s ‘Flakensteins’ story?” at http://www.thepassivevoice.com/2018/03/just-how-monstrous-is-the-suns-flakensteins-story/.
Fiction Words: 2687
Nonfiction Words: 420 (Journal)
So total words for the day: 3107
Writing of Pulp 6 (working title)
Brought forward…… 11,008 words
Day 1…… 2008 words. Total words to date…… 13016
Day 2…… 2948 words. Total words to date…… 15964
Day 3…… 1860 words. Total words to date…… 17824
Day 4…… 4054 words. Total words to date…… 21878
Day 5…… 2250 words. Total words to date…… 24128
Day 6…… 1373 words. Total words to date…… 25501
Day 7…… 3983 words. Total words to date…… 29484
Day 8…… 4256 words. Total words to date…… 33740
Day 9…… 2687 words. Total words to date…… 36427 (done)
Total fiction words for the month……… 20463
Total fiction words for the year………… 71768
Total nonfiction words for the month… 2070
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 21400
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 99118
Calendar Year 2018 Novels to Date………………………… 2
Calenday Year 2018 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
Calendar Year 2018 Short Stories to Date……… 0
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)………………………………………… 29
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………………………………… 4
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……………………………… 182