Novella Diary, Claw, Day Eight

Late start today. For reasons.

Actually, no, I owe you a better explanation than that. So here’s the thing: I’m going to the Gold Coast tomorrow night for an awards ceremony. It’s a work thing, and I’m going as the work representative, and it wasn’t something I’d planned for. This is bugging me. Not in an “I don’t want to do this and work is stupid” kind of way, but in a “why can I not do the things that I want to do” kind of way.

And this happened on the day that I realised my estimates for how long this book is going to be will be out by about 10,000 words. I can tell, ’cause I’m eight thousand words in and I haven’t yet hit the end of the forth chapter. The forth chapter is an anchor point. When I set out to write something like this, even if I’m pantsing it, I divide the word-count into quarters and mentally tag them: first act, race to mid-point, away from the mid-point, last act.

Things happen at the end of the first act. They haven’t happened yet, but they should at the end of Chapter Four. Ergo, given that Chapter 4 will push us over 10,000 words, I’m figuring my estimates are out.

I get derailed by stupid shit.

Session 8.1 (8:13 AM – 8:36 AM)
Word Count: 639

So this was a weird one. Started writing a scene based on a set of assumptions regarding the dynamic. Reached the end of the scene and realised it would be more fun if I set up a different set of character dynamics. One that’s more antagonistic, and is predicated on the antagonist being a bit dodgy, but if I do it it’ll justify a whole bunch of scenes that I’d written earlier where certain characters come on stage and do stuff ’cause I need them on-stage.

So now I’m going back and making a note of the places where those changes need to happen, ’cause it’s going to have an effect on every single scene in the story thus far.

Session 8.2 (12:08 PM – 12:19 PM)
Word Count: 327

Eleven minutes spare during my lunch break at work. Turns out I can totally rock eleven minutes of writing time.

Session 8.3 (7:58 PM – 8:19 PM)
Word Count: 438

We were meant to be gaming tonight, but people couldn’t make it, so I ended up with a free evening of writing that I hadn’t really planned on. Considering tomorrow night is going to be a wash in terms of getting stuff done, it’s a welcome reprieve.

Session 8.4 (8:36 PM – 8:52 PM)
Word Count: 502

Second half of the online Writing Race we run through work, whereby a bunch of people gather online and write for an hour.

Didn’t quite hit the end of chapter 4, but that’s only because it’s turning into an unwieldy mess. Going to leave it here for the evening and see if I can create a plan for rewriting things a little, if only so I can block out the scenes and figure what goes where.

First, though, I must load the dishwasher, iron shirts for tomorrow, and collect the washing.

Total Daily Writing Time: 1 hours, 11  minutes
Daily Word Count Total: 1, 906

Total Manuscript Writing Time: 10 hours, 46 minutes
Total Manuscript Word Count: 10,161