Sorry for no update last week. Between writing and Thanksgiving and everything else that was going on, there just wasn’t time. But, I’m please to announce that, as of last week, I officially won NaNoWriMo! My total word count is 50,673. I’ll have one more day of writing yet this month before my official tally is recorded, but I’m beyond excited for how far I’ve come with it, and for where it’s going.
You’re going to love it.
If you’ve been following me on Twitter (@kocherb), you might have seen a few of my favorite lines I posted after each day of writing. While they don’t give anything away, hopefully they were able to portray some of the excitement and mystery that’s happening within the novel.
As for where I’m at now, I’m 41 chapters in with probably another 15 or so to go. Many of the chapters are short, giving a quick look in at certain characters, so don’t let that number fool you. That being said (and as I’ve mentioned in the past), I’m hoping to Beneath the Haze up to 100,000 in its finished form. Which means I’m only halfway done.
In order to reach that goal, I know there are a lot of things I need to revise, and while I’ll be adding quite a bit, I’ll also be getting rid of a good portion as well. Such is the way of things. When I wrote Dwarf Mountain, the first draft was only about 55,000 words. After the second draft, it was 105,000 words. And, let me tell you, all those additions helped immensely.
One thing I do when I write is just get the story down and worry about details later. That’s why Dwarf Mountain was able to be so short in its first draft form but grew so much later on. I didn’t add fluff or filler, but expanded the story, including character development, into something far more richer. And while I added 50,000 words, I also eliminated plenty as well. This is my writing style, and it looks like Beneath the Haze is following suit, so I have no doubt that I’ll surpass 100,000 words.
So there you go; an update on NaNoWriMo and a bit more on how I go about writing. I’ll continue posting bits and pieces about Beneath the Haze until I’m finished with it, and then continue teasing you as I make edits. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time!
Click the image for a short story about the Celt’s view of Death as a person.
