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Over 80,000 words now, that is. That doesn’t count the side notes, the entries on the “Ideas” file (where I keep reminders of what this book is supposed to be covering, and those moments of sudden inspiration that don’t come in connected fictional prose.)
This is almost the halfway mark of the final version, assuming it to be similar to Echoes. It’s almost certainly not the halfway mark of the first draft, or several intermediate drafts, as the length will go up and down with revisions. In total, counting the parts left out in each revision, the new writing going into this one will probably exceed 200,000. Which means another 120,000 to go. (Or maybe not, since some has already sloughed off the first 80K. But over 100,000 for sure.)
The new contract has my due dates as Feb 1 (I’ve actually beaten the contract due dates for the first three, because I had a 14 month turnover and got them all in on just about a 12 month turnover) and I hope to turn this one and the next in on or before Jan 1. That’s a lot of words…
Comment by leo — April 29, 2011 @ 9:55 am
glad to hear you did receive a contract for the next two books in the series and I am definitely looking forward to reading more of your fantasy novels. I’ve been reading them since they came out.
Comment by genko — April 30, 2011 @ 5:51 pm
Glad to hear things are still trucking along. Is anything coming through the log jam yet? (I was thinking about that term “log jam” today, something rather peculiar to the logging industry, especially here in the Pacific Northwest, an industry which no longer really exists in the same way as when that term actually made sense.) Or, maybe in your words, have plot bombs happened? Or are you still in the slogging along stage?
I’ve tended to write things all at once, that is, have them simmer under the surface for a while and then suddenly come boiling out all in a piece. Now I’m in the middle of writing a paper a little at a time — once a week for about a hour is all the time I have to work on it. It’s a very different process, and seems to be working out pretty well. Writing without knowing with the outcome will be, really. Not something I’ve done a lot in my life. So we’ll see. Maybe your process is inspiring me a tiny bit.
Comment by Jonathan Schor — May 1, 2011 @ 6:18 am
Glad to know you have contracts for the future – I hope the pay is by the word but it is probably by the book.
Did we ever get a report on the concert?
Comment by elizabeth — May 3, 2011 @ 10:10 am
Pay is not by the book…once you produce something book-length, though the contract specifies a minimum length or a range, there’s no more “by the word.” (I suppose it’s fair–they don’t know exactly how many words you’ll be writing.)
A report on the concert? I thought I’d done one elsewhere, but maybe not. (April is already fading…) It went very well indeed though I needed another week of rehearsal. However, with the help of the rehearsal CD and the piano and a lot of hours spent working on it, I was more ready than I’d feared. So there we were, and there were the musicians, all specialists in baroque music, with antique instruments, and the venue was packed (late arrivals had to be turned away) and away we went.
David’s conception of the music, and his ability to get that conception into our hearts and back out of our mouths, made it an extraordinary performance. For example, the chorale sections were not treated as mere dividers, to be sung in the ordinary hymnlike way–nor dragged out in very slow tempo–but as actual transitions, so that phrase by phrase they led from the previous section through the “upright” chorale music to the next section. His markings are always individual, always thoroughly considered (and then revised slightly as the choir he’s working with shows what it can and cannot do in the first half of the rehearsal period.)
From my perspective (near the left end, top row) there were no problems, and David was happy with us both at intermission and the end. But more than that, according to people in the audience who spoke to me afterward, we gave them the emotional experience they came hoping for. At the end, there was that moment of breathless silence followed by the burst of applause as they stood up, some obviously in tears. So were some in the choir.
Comment by elizabeth — May 3, 2011 @ 11:16 am
The log jam is at least defining itself. There are things (background, character, etc.) that I need to ponder, write a little, ponder again, write a little more. Book IV is both discovery and the beginning of the contraction toward Book V, the end–there are sections I should not write in draft mode until I’m sure where I”m going. I can’t ever outline a book before I start, but somewhere in the middle third I need to take stock, give looks forward and back, and figure out the best route from here.
Comment by Jonathan Schor — May 3, 2011 @ 12:54 pm
Very good on the concert.
Take your time with the book – write well and it will be worth reading. I can wait patiently for the next volume.
Comment by leo — May 4, 2011 @ 9:49 am
with all of the characters demanding the spotlight and wanting their stories told could the series be expanded past 5 or have another series start up?
Comment by elizabeth — May 4, 2011 @ 11:07 am
I think I’ve mentioned before that both editors are adamant the group must end at five volumes.
Comment by Daniel Glover — May 4, 2011 @ 9:06 pm
Well, I think five is plenty too for one story arc. There are always lots of story arcs available if the Plot Daemon strikes again later.