I had an interesting day yesterday. For one thing, I was hungover because on Tuesday night my friend L., who failed to procure me The Edge for matrimonial purposes, instead went out for tapas and sangria with me and we accordingly returned to our respective homes at 11.45 pm, stinking of booze and garlic and with big happy smiles on our faces. And the next day I felt a bit rough. Sangria…the drink of the devil! Or perhaps it was the two large glasses of white wine in the pub, after. Hmm.
When Fecklet had been packed off to nursery, I sat down to write and realised I had no clue what I was doing. I knew what happened in the next scene, but not what had to be said, and considering it’s the scene where the heroine meets the hero after they’ve had a huge argument involving the entire town, I sort of needed to know what they were going to talk about. And it also occurred to me that I had no idea how to end this book, and the weight of all that knowing just made it impossible to lift hands to keyboard.
So instead, as a follow-up to my exploration in Wiltshire in the spring, I researched the proper methods of making a crop circle. Fab. And then I poured myself a bath. And I called poor Kathy and made her listen to my incoherent ideas for where the story was going, and she asked a few well-placed questions and told me her thoughts and ping! It all suddenly made sense. And best of all, I’ve realised that the end is actually a lot closer than I’d thought, which, y’know, is a good thing because this draft is standing right now at 113,000 words and my contract asks for 120,000. AND I have to add several scenes (and an exploding car) to the beginning and middle of the story, in revisions.
So now, according to the new plan, I have to forget about my big dramatic rescue scene that I’d been planning, because it’s irrelevant, and I can totally excise two characters and replace them with two others.
The only problem is, I’ve now got a collapsing ceiling that I no longer need. Anyone want it? It’s got fat cherubs on it.
(Actually I might keep it intact, it’s too ugly to waste.)
Collapsing cherub clad ceilings, exploding cars and barneys involving the whole town… I love the sound of this book Julie!
Great news you’re so close to finishing the first draft!
You sat down and had no idea what you were doing?
Wow. Were you channelling me?
You’re in the homestretch now babes!
wow, this sounds like a fab book, but 120,000 – jeez, really I should stop complaining!
Carol, I’m glad it sounds good to you, it feels a bit overwhelming to me! And I haven’t even mentioned the Stolen Horseradish of Revenge.
Never fear, I shall make you and everyone else on the Cornerstones course solve all my plot problems for me.
Donna, I never have a frickin’ clue, I’m telling you. I just cross my fingers and try to ignore the big voice in my head saying “YOU SUCK!!”
Sometimes it works better than others.
120K seemed like a lot to me too before I started Alice but now it seems a drop in the bucket. A lot to revise though, in my future. How long is yours going to be?