From 0s
Applications are submitted. That story even got written. It was interesting, working my way through those paces. I still don't have a title I like, and yet even though I don't know what to call it, I know exactly what it is.
All the drafted novels of the Where Shadows Lie series exist in a state that is very, very close to 60,000 words. I don't know how that happened, but I can attest to that not being on purpose. By the time I got into that range, the story was either done, or winding down, major conflicts addressed or resolved, most characters moved close or farther away from their hearts' desires. It was over, and time to address the next one. Except for the first book. The first book was only 55,000 words, and as I began noticing the earlier trend, that break in the continuity stuck out more and more. I didn't realize that those missing 5,000 words actually existed somewhere until I wrote this earlier story.
With the average length of the chapters in the book, those missing words work out to be roughly 2-3 chapters of material. I don't know where I would've put them, but I know what they were about. Now that the story, front to back, is more complete, I can see where I cut corners. Years ago, I realized that my first book would never be as good as the ones that came after it, because of the natural maturation process I would undergo. And I don't think I would go back and do it all over again, but the realizations that are occurring to me now are stunning.
In regards to posting the story, which I've edited twice, there seems to be a norm among blogs that posts not be more than 500 words, that one must account for the attention span of readers. The story I wrote is 14,000 words, and I went through and chopped it up into 4 parts that I thought would be nice and digestible. Then I found out even those smaller bits would be too large. I guess on a different, more popular site, this is where the author would put it up for a vote, or post a poll about such. There are several short story sites I've tried using over the years where I could put it up. Mostly, or rather completely, it's all on me, in this case.
Regardless, I'm very happy to have the words, and to understand more now about the characters I thought I knew ever facet of. Part of me feels like I should be able to take this sort of lesson and project it forward on my latest projects. I'm sure I'll try.
All the drafted novels of the Where Shadows Lie series exist in a state that is very, very close to 60,000 words. I don't know how that happened, but I can attest to that not being on purpose. By the time I got into that range, the story was either done, or winding down, major conflicts addressed or resolved, most characters moved close or farther away from their hearts' desires. It was over, and time to address the next one. Except for the first book. The first book was only 55,000 words, and as I began noticing the earlier trend, that break in the continuity stuck out more and more. I didn't realize that those missing 5,000 words actually existed somewhere until I wrote this earlier story.
With the average length of the chapters in the book, those missing words work out to be roughly 2-3 chapters of material. I don't know where I would've put them, but I know what they were about. Now that the story, front to back, is more complete, I can see where I cut corners. Years ago, I realized that my first book would never be as good as the ones that came after it, because of the natural maturation process I would undergo. And I don't think I would go back and do it all over again, but the realizations that are occurring to me now are stunning.
In regards to posting the story, which I've edited twice, there seems to be a norm among blogs that posts not be more than 500 words, that one must account for the attention span of readers. The story I wrote is 14,000 words, and I went through and chopped it up into 4 parts that I thought would be nice and digestible. Then I found out even those smaller bits would be too large. I guess on a different, more popular site, this is where the author would put it up for a vote, or post a poll about such. There are several short story sites I've tried using over the years where I could put it up. Mostly, or rather completely, it's all on me, in this case.
Regardless, I'm very happy to have the words, and to understand more now about the characters I thought I knew ever facet of. Part of me feels like I should be able to take this sort of lesson and project it forward on my latest projects. I'm sure I'll try.
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