Chapter 7 is done!!

[jpskewedthrone]

I finished chapter 7 yesterday evening . . . I think. I still need to reread it and perhaps add a few paragraphs at the end, when Varis looks at the Dredge (she's visiting as her role as Mistress) and realizes she's outgrown her old life there and could never go back. Something to that effect anyway. Plus it prompts an idea that may solve one of her problems. Chapter 7 is when Varis really accepts that she's the Mistress and takes complete control of that fact. Not what I expected, but I think it's good.

Then it's on to chapter 8. Next week. I have to remember that Monday is a holiday, so I might have a shorter writing week than expected, so need to compensate. I still want to get chapter 8 done, even if I do only have 4 days to do it. As long as it isn't as hot as it's been, I'll be OK. If it is hot . . . I may have to break down and attempt to write in some place air-conditioned but unfamiliar and distracting, like Starbucks or B&N. we'll see.

Comments

[storytellersjem.livejournal.com]

Hey Joshua,

Do you find yourself producing a certain number of pages or words per hour or is it all over the place? Just making comparisons.

Thanks,

Shannon

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

It's all over the place. For chapter 7, I wrote 4 pages Monday, another 4 on Tuesday, then about 19 on Wednesday (I hit my stride in the chapter), then another page on Thursday and Friday when I reread it and revised it. I always reread the chapter each time I sit down to write on it, and always do a final reread at the end once I know what it is I want in the chapter.

My chapters tend to be much longer than usual, at least for this book series. Previous books they were shorter. A 30 page chapter is about average, so about 7,500 words per chapter. Each one is slightly different in output.

This week, I've got to get the chapter done in 3 days, plus a reread on Friday if I'm to stay on schedule.

[storytellersjem.livejournal.com]

Hey Josh,

Kewl.

How many hours did you spend in producing your word/page count?

Thanks,

Shannon

P.S. They say mathemitician types are one of the longest lived professions.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Hmm . . . I don't keep track of the hours, mainly because pages/words per hour output varies so much. If the writing is going well, the ratio is high. If not, the ratio is low. I try to shoot for "ends of scenes" as output goals. When I sit down to write, I ask myself what's supposed to happen next in the scene, then say I'll write until that. For example, in my next scene, I need to get a ship to leave the harbor. So I'll work until the emotionally heartbreaking last view of the ship before it vanished (to be destroyed at the end of the chapter). Then I look at the time. If I have enough time, I'll set the next goal, in my case, the construction of the warehouse/quarry stone problem resolution. So I'll write till they figure out where to get the stone from. Then check the time. If I don't think I can finish the scene in the time I have left after I sat down, I usually end that writing session.

Sometimes short scenes take me all afternoon to write because they're more emotionally charged or something. Action scenes tend to get written rather quickly because I don't have to deal with character issues as much. So it all varies.

[storytellersjem.livejournal.com]

Good to know, Josh. Thank!