A few minutes ago I hit the 60K milestone in the novel. Hard to believe I’ve made it this far and still feel the urge, nay, compelled, to write this story. I still have the sense that I’m just beginning the novel, that these last 60k of words have just been the preamble to the treatise and not what they were intended, the first bulk of the novel.
I had originally set August 29 as my deadline for the first draft, with a modest goal of 80K. I think I’ll surpass the latter, but it is still my hope to have it complete by August 29. I know next week will be an almost nil week (I’ll be driving the van during the commute most of the week), and there’s a week at the start of August that has already been claimed for a family vacation. But that still leaves six or seven viable weeks to write in, so I should still be able to make it.
The nice thing about the story is that for the most part, it hasn’t been a struggle in the least. Yes, there are those hours, days even, where I struggle to figure out exactly what it is I’m supposed to be writing about. But those are more than made up for with the rest of the time, where its all I can do to close the floodgates before I drown in the volume pouring out.
Story wise, I think I’ve made good progress. Two of the characters destined for this happy band are together now (albeit in circumstances not becoming a partnership of any sort), two others are slowly but surely making their way west, and the last member of the party has just met the people he was sent to save and found them wanting. Sounds perfect 🙂
OK, time for a brain break. Hope you all are having as fruitful a weekend as I am!