hello, middle

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I think that may be my pivot point, right there. I’m in the middle zone — 30K to 37.5K, depending on where the book falls in 60 to 75K — and today’s writing, which more than made up for yesterday’s lack, puts me right at a neat 33,333 words.

(Okay, it was 33,334 words. I deleted one to make the number pretty. It didn’t need to be in there, I promise.)

And this chunk of writing — this whole chapter, really, which was all tonight’s writing — may very well be that pivot point at the center of a book, when you stop moving away from the beginning and start moving toward the end. Things get a lot worse for Val from here on out. But she knows most of the major pieces now, at least about herself; the second half is what she decides to do about it.

I’d been wondering what my pivot point would be. Or if this book would have one. But all is well; I think I found it.

0 Responses to “hello, middle”

  1. unforth

    What a nice feeling! 🙂 Awesome!

  2. sora_blue

    Nicely done. This book appears like you’re writing it pretty quickly—which I realize actually says nothing about the ease of the process.

    • Marie Brennan

      I’m going at roughly normal speed, with the exception that I’m generally managing to hit 1100 or even 1200 words instead of just squeaking 1K. But I had 14K in the can before I officially “started work” at the beginning of the year, so I already have half a book even though it’s only halfway through January.

  3. milbrcrsan

    That is a pretty number! :p

    Okay, I have two questions for you. lol One: I’ve been thinking more about the final word count of my novel. I know Novel in 90 is going for the smallest amount to make the story an actual novel, 67,500. But, I doubt publishers would be happy with a fantasy being that short, right? And, I do know that each publisher is probably different, but, do you know the range of words I should get to before even thinking about publishers or being finished?

    And two: What happens if you’re pushed against a rock and a hard place, and you can’t exactly move until you find out some names for characters, however, naming things and people hasn’t been as easy as it was when you first started the novel. Should I just dive, head on first, into another naming generator, bite the bullet and just try? Should I wait until I feel more relaxed about the names and just substitute their names until then?

    • Marie Brennan

      One difference between Ni90 and NaNoWriMo is that Ni90 doesn’t expect that 67,500 to be the entirety of your novel. The basic range to think in for SF/F is 80K-120K, with 100K being a good, solid target. (That’s about how long both Doppelganger and Warrior and Witch are, for reference.)

      Naming is a really subjective thing, so I’m not sure I can offer useful advice there. I’ve been known to slam to a halt because I haven’t figured out the right name for a character, but I don’t recommend it as a way to operate. If you can stick in placeholders, or generate something quickly, then that’s fine. The only thing that really matters anyway is the end result.

    • diatryma

      I am not an awesome novelist. I am still struggling through the novelish I have. I do placeholders if I know I’m going to come back to something, and make things up on the spot if I’m not. So I can name a throwaway character easily, but I have towns named boy do you need to worldbuild all over the place.
      Of course, you do whatever you need to to get it done.

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