60k

I managed several productive writing sessions this past week and am now up to just over 60,000 words on THE ISLE. They'll send a boat for me soon. Until then, I'll just have to keep writing. (haha)

I'm still just short of the half-way point in terms of the event that I need to be the mid-point of the story. I finally found a way to get the characters to where I need them, for that event to take place. They are on their way now, with 23 chapters behind them. Within the next one or two chapters I should be able to get them finally through that key scene. It is the one pivotal scene of the plot, that everything depends on from there till the end.

Following the mid-point event there is a twist. I was concerned with the twist not being fully supported by previous events, but that has not been the case. I have built in lots to support this twist, and a sense of urgency about it. So, I expect that will work well. The second half of Act II should go quickly. The problem over the past several chapters has been getting the characters to the mid-point. I'll have to edit those chapters down and consolidate them, make it more of a straight path. I had to wander a bit in the writing, seeking the right way to work the mid-point in so it would seem right as it occurs. That difficulty has been probably the number one reason the novel has taken 60k words to get to the mid-point. It was just hard to get all the characters to go through all the changes they needed to in order to arrive at the mid-point and act in the way they do, for the scene to work and ring true. It's still a little shaky, but I made it. I can shore it up in the rewrite. At least I have lots to work with now.

If only I had been concise! 60k should be the end-point, not the mid-point! But that's okay. I can live with it. This will be another 120k first draft.

By the way, if you haven't already, check out Gabriele's sites which I have listed under FEATURED LINKS right now. All three are hers. She writes historical fiction and I was very impressed with the enormous background she seems to have in understanding the history and culture underlying her novels. She also has a knack for finding interesting moments, figures and events in history and writing about them. If you're into history or historical fiction, her sites are worth checking out!

Best wishes for happy novel writing and much progress,

Adrian