Well, that was a weekend, huh? I’m holding somewhat grimly to my determination never, ever to post about current events or especially politics, but wow, occasionally that does become something of a challenge. So if you wonder if I was too buried in fictional worlds to notice big events, no, not that buried.
But back to fictional worlds, and in the clear understanding that this particular blog is in fact going to remain oblivious to politics and current events —
So, lots of progress!
The past week did start slowly because … I may never have mentioned this, but a good while ago, my mother had shingles, and it lasted ten months and was highly unpleasant. I made a mental note then to get the shingles vaccine sometime after I turned fifty, and then of course I put it off and put it off and then last week I bumped into a guy who’s had shingles (so far) for four months and I thought Time to quit waiting. So I got the shingles vaccine, and in case you haven’t, let me add a public service message:
The current shingles vaccine is a two-shot series and it’s a lot better than the old vaccine. You don’t have to repeat it. Protection is better than the previous vaccine and also apparently permanent. So if you’re over fifty, let me just mention that for older people, shingles is often worse, often lasts a long time, is sometimes permanent, and is quite painful and unpleasant. Now that this much better vaccine is here, you might want to arrange to get vaccinated.
But! Either the second vaccine made me feel sort of crappy the next day or else just by random chance I felt sort of crappy the next day. I do get crashing headaches fairly often, and generally I grit my teeth and take a lot of Excedrin and move on through the day, but this past Wednesday, I was also experiencing muscle pain and general malaise, so I thought You know what, never mind, and picked up the most recent Penric novella. Review to follow, but that was a nice way to spend a couple of hours when I wasn’t going to get any work done anyway.
Also, even though the first part of last week was slow and I didn’t get a lot done, things started moving much better on Friday as, for the first time since I picked up Silver Circle at the beginning of June, I hit “flow” rather than slogging forward. I don’t know why; lots of exciting things have been happening all the way along, but maybe I’d just been working on it long enough to get this story back into the foreground. Something else that helps is that I’ve figured out what I’m actually doing with the epilogue and I’m looking forward to that, so that’s pulling me forward.
Anyway, moving from the slog-forward feeling to the in-flow feeling has kicked up writing speed and (obviously) made writing a lot more enjoyable.
Questions you might well ask:
1) So, how many chapters did you need to do when you picked up Silver Circle in June?
Eight or so.
2) So, at this point, about how many chapters do you still need to do?
Eight. Or so.
What keeps happening is that I write a chapter, break it in half, move the first half back a bit, and renumber the rest of the chapters. OR, I suddenly get a neat idea, chuckle to myself, and write an unexpected short chapter. Then I drop that into place and renumber the rest of the chapters. At the beginning of June, I had 48 chapters, of which all but eight or so were finished. Not just the final eight needed to be written, either, but several chapters in the middle plus six or so at the end. Plus the epilogue.
Now, I have 54 chapters, of which the final seven plus the epilogue remain.
I’m really, really glad that I have filled in some earlier chapters, because holes in the middle are unaesthetic and those holes were bugging me.
3) How many words have you written since the beginning of June?
About 60,000. A little more.
4) About how many words do you expect still lie ahead?
About 30,000. Probably a little more.
5) How are you making that estimate?
About ten-fifteen pages per chapter except the penultimate chapter will be long for sure, so call that 30, equals about 95 pages, round up to 100, which is about 30,000 words, give or take.
6) It’ll probably go longer, right?
Probably, but I’m now hitting 4000 words per day, not 2000, so it doesn’t matter. As long as I keep anything close to that pace, I should finish by the end of the month, or very nearly. At 4000 words per day, that would be 60,000 words by the end of the month, and I’m not likely to have underestimated the final length by THAT much.
7) How long do you think the story will wind up?
I’m at 172,000 words as of this morning, so just about 300,000 total, probably. Although I expect to do some trimming, I don’t expect to do a lot of trimming. That’s because I’ve already done some and because most chapters are pretty much chock-full of action. But it’s fine if it does go over. If both books are 150,000 words, that’s fine. If they’re 175,000 words each, that’s fine, though I’ll be surprised if that happens. Regardless, I’m not concerned about it.
8) Has anybody died yet?
Yes.
9) AAAGH! WHO?
That’d be telling. Sorry.
10) Is anybody ELSE going to die?
I don’t know. I’m a discovery writer, remember? I won’t be sure till I’m at the end.
Please Feel Free to Share:
FWIW, the shingles vaccine is notoriously rough, which was certainly the experience of both myself and my wife. Glad we got it, and agreed the new two-part one looks way better than the prior version, but it hit us both like a truck.
Bleagh, shingles. I worked for an elderly lady once for whom it lasted for almost a year and a half. It affected her ability to sit or stand, as most of the pain was concentrated on her thigh. Some days even the touch of clothes was too much for her, and nothing seemed to help.
So yeah, that’s definitely a vaccine that you want to get, even if the vaccine reaction is rough.
Glad to hear you’re making progress! I am VERY MUCH looking forward to finding out how you tie the Black Dog series up. Oh, darn, an excuse to reread. :D
I also found the second shingles shot to be the bad one. (I recommend having it on a Friday, if you can — assuming you get Saturday off — if you are considering it.)
My sister had shingles. They recommend the vaccine, and she couldn’t find one anywhere. So when the doctor recommended it and his office had none, I went to the pharmacy. Got it there.
I got it at a pharmacy. Pity they didn’t warn me the second shot might provide a rough day, but whatever, it’s fine.
I really NEED to get the Shingles shot one of these days! I’ve been saying it for years but keep procrastinating.
Wow. I’ve had shingles, had it young, about twenty years ago. Got the vaccine rather more recently. But when I had the illness it manifested on a weekend, and I got myself to am urgent care doctor to see what was going on, and he gave me an antiviral. Knocked the pain and rash out in just a few days.
Do they not do antivirals anymore?
Antivirals don’t do it for everyone. My mother had antivirals. Didn’t do a thing as far as I could tell.
I had shingles ages ago, when I was in my twenties. It was no big deal. It hurt, the pills took care of that, it lasted ten days, boom, done. I definitely wouldn’t want to have to live through ten months or more with it, though.
I do very much appreciate the Progress reports. Mostly because after reading them I feel better — I’m not the only one who doesn’t cross every T and dot every I and… um, write every scene in a chapter before moving on to the next part.
I still think the line between professional and amateur writer is the line between those who finish the story and those who don’t.
I had my first Shingles shot the same day I had my second C shot. The only problem I encountered was that both arms were swollen. Which meant I could not lie down on either side. Compared to Long Covid or Shingles, my complaints were small potatoes, as it were. (Why are potatoes used as a basis of comparison in instances such as this? One can only wonder.)
I think you’re exactly correct, Evelyn. To succeed as an author, the single great truth is that you have to finish at least some of what you start.