Act I Complete!

Current Word Count: 111k altogether, 105k from prologue to interlude.

Song I was listening to when the the final period was put on chapter 23: Chrono Cross: Chronopolis

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After twenty-one months of writing, the first twenty-four chapters of my novel, encompassing the first act, are complete.

Part of me is relieved. The climax event is over 110 pages long and stretches across five chapters (18-23; there is a 24, but I'm debting putting it in act II.) I have been writing it for over six months.

It's cool to see things I thought of years ago finally put down in a readable format. Connecting dots A to B was a much lengthier process than I had imagined.

Another part of me is not so relieved; if my estimates are right (and if history teaches us anything, it's that every estimate I've made so far has been very low) I am only halfway done. And that is a very daunting prospect.

On the other hand, I have multiple scenes--bits of dialogue, some of the stuff is actually good, I think--already plotted and even some chapters already written. I have a rough sketch of where (I think) things will be going, though Stephen King wrote that plot is like excavating a fossil with a jackhammer. I think there's some truth to that allegory.

I stand somewhere in the middle of the story. Pretty much everything has gone wrong for the characters, and everything that has become comfortable is about to be turned on its head. The story is shifting gears.

It's been quite interesting to watch these people come to life.

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Current Chapter List

Prologue: The Prose of Photius, Record One

1: The Autumn Garden

2: Midnight

3: Ghosts of Chimon-Jing

4: The Demon

5: The Conclave

6: What Friends are For

7: Helmsman's Folly

8: The Merchant's Arcade

9: Miles from Mine

10: We Should be Sleeping

11: If the Stars are Willing

12: Broken Promises

13: The Only Life I've Ever Known

14: Memories like Mountains

15: What Tomorrow Holds

16: A Lovely Day

17: Revelations

18: City on the Winds

19: Grasping at the Stars

20: Event Horizon

21: To Reap a Whirlwind

22: Falling

23: The Heavens Remained Quiet

24: A Well to Draw From [May be moved to act II.]

Interlude: The Prose of Photius, Record Two

Hey, thanks for playing along.

-D