by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
As I understand it, The Girl On The Train is about 140,000 words. I’m not suggesting I’m nearly as good a writer as the author of that novel, but at least that gives me hope that the ~100,000 word “sweetspot” for a first time author isn’t an absolute.
I say that because this novel is getting REALLY GOOD, but the first act is a bit long at 50 scenes. Each scene, as a rule of thumb, is on average 1,000 words so that’s about 50,000 words before The Event happens that sparks the rest of the story. But, remember Stieg Larsson did something similar with The Girl Who Played With Fire.
I’m — hoping — that all the spicy scenes in the first 50 scenes involving us seeing our intrepid heroine balancing her life as the owner of a strip club with that of owning an alternative weekly will give the story enough juice that audience will be willing to humor me for 50,000 words. I mean, who doesn’t like imagining T&A in their mind, am I right? Wink.
I find myself needing to actually consume media for once. I’ve grown into such a fucking storytelling snob that it is very, very difficult for me to read or otherwise consume anyone else’s story. But as my own story gets better, I realize maybe I need to be willing to expose myself to other voices.
Or something like that.
