I finally reached the 100,000 word mark on Bad Apple Bone. 100,002 to be exact. I knew I was approaching it, so after an evening of dodgy writing I randomly stopped and did a word count (er, not manually, you understand) and BING! It was 100,000 words, dead on! There was much excited jumping about for a bit and clinking of imaginary champagne glasses (sadly). It probably says a lot about my writing process that I could only think of a further 2 words for the rest of the night.
The mind boggles at such a number. I vividly remember reaching the 10,000 word mark, and being all dead impressed with myself because, I think, my dissertation was around that long. My smugness ended when I realised I would have to write around 10 times that to get to the end of my book.
And at the end of my book, I am not. At least, not yet. It still twinkles in the near distance, like a shiny American diner all full of hot breakfasts and exciting milkshakes on the desert road of my writing journey. Or something. Emotionally, I am about one and a half chapters away from the end. Technically, I am one and a half chapters and a few-bits-and-pieces-I-left-out away from finishing, which is a little frustrating but entirely my own fault; part of the fun of writing Bad Apple Bone has been that I’ve been learning how I write as I go along, and one of the things I found out is that I sometimes like to write with no regard for chronological order. Marty will point out that I often read this way, too.
So this is my plan. At the weekend I have a sort-of free Saturday, and if I am good and disciplined, it is possible I could push myself over the finishing line. Write my little socks off.
Bad Apple Bone, finished, after two years. It’s almost as unimaginable as reaching 100,000 words!
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Utterly totally completely awesome. You've done what few people have (hit 100k), and you're a short step away from finishing what even fewer others have (finish a novel). Ok, that grammar is terrible, I apologise now, but you get the drift.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the "technical" conclusion of the book, I had exactly the same thing with Dark Heart. A month or so ago I lost about 1200 words from a chapter halfway through the book. I ploughed on, wrote the conclusion and finished the story, then found myself having to trawl back through it and re-write the missing chapter. I'd only got halfway through it anyway, so it half a rewrite, half new material.
This was a depressing prospect to face, but once I started, it was actually quite an enjoyable experience. That missing section expanded itself to about 3000 words, adding in a whole new angle on a subplot.
The thing is, I really think the fact that I'd "finished" the book helped - I knew that I had made it to the end and had written my first novel, so this was just replastering a particularly large crack.
So don't panic too much! It may seem annoying, but it'll be fine!
That is very reassuring, actually. I have been sort of dreading going back to fill in the gaps, but at least with the ending written I can do it with the confidence that I know how it all turns out. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you for the congratulations sir!
congratulations on epic wafflage. T'is verily the Gummi Bear War and Peace. nice
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Congratulations! There will be real champagne (or at least sparkling wine) when you actually finish, right?? I'm so *squee* for you!
ReplyDeleteI may well get something fizzy! :D
ReplyDelete(actually my not so secret plan for a reward/celebration is to go buy something nice from Lush ;)