Novel update . . .

~Midweek update time . . .

~I finished last night with 23,590 words. That is 40 computer pages! I officially declared it the end of part 1!

~I have always been blessed with a knack of wordiness; you have perhaps noticed this fact. When I write, but certainly not when I talk. This has served well for college papers, which were always longer than they were supposed to be. Of course wordiness is only to my benefit if quantity is more important than quality; which is exactly what my novel writing kit tells me! All words are good words if they add to the overall count!

~The kit also said that if you finished this week on track then you deserve to treat yourself to something. So yesterday afternoon I bought some new boots! It is mid week and I am 3,590 words ahead of schedule. Thus, new boots. They actually weren't really a splurge since the shoes in the box were different sizes . . . I got 75% off!

~I think my novel is going pretty well. Not only is there a plethora of words, but I also think I have a relatively interesting plot developing. Of course when it comes to books I am not too hard to please. I really enjoy the thrill of where the plot is going to go each day! Some of the best moments come when I realize how unintentionally things tend to fall into place.

~I listened to the GrammarGirl podcast last night on how to write a novel. This might have been a slight blunder. She said that once you are finished, put it away for six months. Don't let anyone read it. Just put it away. Then after six months bring it back out and read it. This way you are viewing it almost as a reader would, having forgotten what you were trying to say. As a result, you are capable of seeing the flaws in the plot and character development. You can hear what the dialogue actually says, rather than what you think you hear. She says you will be surprised at how bad it is! Eeek. And then from there you can improve upon your flaws.

~It sounds like good advice. Though I don't know if I could just abandon my novel at the end of the month for half a year! That would be like having a baby and then giving it up for adoption for the first ten years of their life. Just not appealing and could perhaps seriously affect their developmental process.