Chapter 20/24
Yes, odd subject heading. After I went back and looked at the development of all of my characters, I saw a gaping hole in the transition for Cardinal Cormac Pell O'Connor. That required me going back and writing a between chapter. So the I chapter I wrote is Chapter 20, which means the chapters above it get a +1.
It took me two weeks to write Chapter 20. It required a lot of research I hadn't done yet, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.
As the word count stands:
Now what? Back to Mr. Bran. Basically all heckfire breaks loose beginning with Chapter 25 and it should be great fun writing the rest of the book!
It took me two weeks to write Chapter 20. It required a lot of research I hadn't done yet, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.
As the word count stands:
| Prologue: 3045 Chapter 1: 4075 Chapter 2: 2973 Chapter 3: 3241 Chapter 4: 4144 Chapter 5: 4547 Chapter 6: 2793 Chapter 7: 3598 Chapter 8: 4939 Chapter 9: 4257 Interlude: 2372 Chapter 10: 3346 Chapter 11: 3185 Chapter 12: 3639 Chapter 13: 4878 Chapter 14: 4562 Chapter 15: 3840 Chapter 16: 3984 | Chapter 17: 5441 Chapter 18: 4725 Chapter 19: 5651 Interlude: 3687 Chapter 20: 4122 Chapter 21: 4537 Chapter 22: 4220 Chapter 23: 4275 Chapter 24: 4468 Chapter 25: Chapter 26: Chapter 27: Chapter 28: Chapter 29: Chapter 30: Chapter 31: Chapter 32: Epilogue: |
Now what? Back to Mr. Bran. Basically all heckfire breaks loose beginning with Chapter 25 and it should be great fun writing the rest of the book!
Labels: The Dark Thorn
posted by Shawn C. Speakman | 3:28 PM
6 Comments:
Great progress! How do the chapters break down characterwise?
Chris: Man, I could post that but it's super secret. haha
No, not really. I pretty much alternate with three Bran chapters leading to a Richard or Cormac or Phillip chapter. There are two deviations from that, the first happening in Chapters 6 and 7 which are two Richard chapters back to back that should have been one chapter total but grew too long; the second such instance I am in the middle of writing at the moment where Bran will have five chapters in a row without a break.
Almost finished with Chapter 25. Very happy with it so far and should finished today or tomorrow.
Shawn, Thanks for posting your prologue. I'd keep reading your story, by the way! I'm captured. Only a few minor rough spots that halted me here and there. But a good editor could smooth these over easily, I expect.
I very much appreciate your posting of word counts and chapters. My chapters are similar in length.
Question: If this is your first novel then it looks to be much longer than 80K. Do you think it is possible to get a long novel (120K, for example) published as a first time author? Or is it safer to split a novel into two 80K novels? That's my problem right now you see. My initial plan of a novella expanded into 120K plus!
Sengei Tawn: Thanks for your kind comments!
To your questions, good ones. As my first novel, Song of the Fell Hammer, was 200,000 words, I can't stress enough that that was too large for a first time writer. Being too large can go against you for sure since ink and paper and binding costs money and a publisher wants to maximize out their bottom line when it comes to taking on a risk in a new writer.
That said, if a book is great it will be published no matter what. So it all depends on the quality of your writing, your story, your characters, and how you pull it all off.
My book, at the moment, will end up somewhere around 140,000 words. The average novel in genre is 90,000 words. After a good strong line edit I'll be able to carve at least 10,000 words off of that final total. Many first time writers suffer from what my hopeful agent calls "purple prose." That prose can be removed by a good line editor, shrinking the book down and improving it drastically. It all depends on what kind of writer you are, really.
Personally, I believe if your book is 120,000 words and it is a good, strong book, you won't have a problem. And splitting the story up into halves is not a good idea; keep the story as it is, complete, and if an agent or editor thinks it can be and should be split let them make that decision for you. That's what they get paid for. :)
Shawn, Thanks so much for your response on the length thing. I'm making a stab at splitting the book and it's sort of working because now I can fill in story spots that could use some explaining. Not sure what I'm going to do just yet.
I wonder if the agent might also put two books of a series together into one? I was thinking there was benefit to saying, here's this one and by the way, I've got another done as well. Hmm.
Sengei Tawn: As long as the two books in question are self-contained unto themselves, you probably won't have a problem. If the first book ends on a cliffhanger... that can be problematic.
Ever notice first books of series by first time writers? They generally are self-contained Aristotelian stories, where the conclusion is satisfying to all characters as well as to the reader. Look no further than the movie Star Wars: A New Hope to see what I mean. There is a reason for it; it is easy to market a stand alone book for a first time writer and not easy to persuade people to buy two or three to get the entire story from a first time writer.
If you've taken your larger novel and split it into two because you are worried about length, that first 1/2 of the story had better be self-contained -- or really close to it.
So much of breaking into this business it to remove as many possible hangups as you can to give yourself the best chance at succeeding. Length can be a hangup. Cliffhangers can be a hangup. Just something to think about.
In short, I'd suggest finishing that first split novel, get it ready for submission, and submit it. Why not, right? If an agent likes your writing but thinks the story is lacking something, it could be the second part you've split away.
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