by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I’m just about to get past the sixth chapter in this first novel in the four novel series I’m working on. Once that happens, I think — think — things should move a lot quicker at least until I hit the midpoint.
In the past, I’ve had a lot of problems with the story falling apart at the midpoint. But I’ve mapped out this novel so tightly this go around that I think I’m pretty safe.
I hope.
I’m hoping to wrap up these four novels and try to sell them to a publishing house no later than maybe 18 months from now.
But what gets me is how some other writers get so worked up about how many words they’ve written when that’s not the metric I use. I use scenes written. Since each scene is supposed to be somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 words, I find myself writing a lot more than if I was strictly obsessed with word count.
Everyone’s different, but I like using scene count as opposed to word count because it’s a whole lot easier to keep track of using my system of development and there’s a far greater sense of accomplishment.
Anyway, I’m really pleased with how things are going at the moment. I’m really beginning to get the sense that, at last, I’m going to actually finish a novel. What happens after that is anyone’s guess.
