this post is a monument to doubt and insecurity
Just stopping
to agonize
on a snowy
evening. Ac
tually after
noon, and
no snow.
I’m
worried about
how much
longer my
novel is going to be, and
if I’m anywhere near the end, and how to make it loop together if I’m
anywhere near it.
I have abt 100,000 words, and certainly it’s farther than halfway. But
how much farther? how much latitude do I have in bringing in new
characters and bits of plot?
Numbers:
Currently 100,000ish words
Projected? 135,000? (my old idea, based on not much);
A source of dubious merit I found on the internet says that 450 ms. pages =
300 book pages; so by this measure, I now have
100,000 words 385 ms pp. 256 book pp.
the projected total:
135,000 words 509 ms pp. 339 book pp 29 more writing days (at 1200/day)
or 35 more writing days (at 982/day)
if it’s more, say 50,000 words longer
150,000 words 566 ms pp 377 book pp. 41 more writing days
or 51 more writing days
If it’s 50,000 more, then I have only 2/3 of the book done; if it’s 35,000 more,
then I have abt ¾ of it done.
And, I should point out to myself that it’s taken me 86 writing days to write
83,500 words, which is an average of only 982 words per day. So at that
(more realistic?) rate, it would take me longer (see amended figures above).
In the worst case scenario (meaning if it was 50,000 words, and if it took me
even a little longer than the 51 wtg days, etc.) I should be done in April.
But that presupposes that I figure out what I’m doing .
posted by mary grimm at 1:49 PM
5 Comments:
Well, if I actually followed all those numbers, I think my head would hurt. Do you really have to worry about new characters and stuff? If they clamor to enter, shouldn't you let them in? (Your little chickie looks very hopeful in the picture.)
You have quite a command of numbers!
Did you know you can use Google as an adding machine by typing in your math problems in the search bar? It's an immense aid to my obsessive tracking of how much I've written.
I agree about just letting the characters in if they need to come in. You can always cut them out later if you have to. Besides a new character might make your current characters sit up and take notice and get on with the show so you can get up to 1200 words a day.
Oh my goodness, I think you should be jumping up and down that you have 100,000 words. Brava, my dear! The rest will take care of itself in ways you can hardly imagine. The characters tell us what to do. After all, it's their story.
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