McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
Wordcount!
King of De Nile:
One way I thread them together, if they're disjointed, is to rewrite them in order as the last step in my rough draft. That way, there's a constant flow from beginning to end because you'll notice the places where there's a harsh jump in voice. So get all you pieces printed out, sort them, and then rewrite them one after the other, filling in gaps and changing any wording as needed. It's time-consuming, but it's the way I do it.
As an aside, most of my solutions to problems involve rewriting. Stuck on a particular part? Rewrite and try to get up a head of steam to burst through the block. Voice off? Rewrite it. no longer recognize the character? You guessed it, rewrite. Probably a holdover from writing on a typewriter.
RMatthewWare:
My fantasy novel is about 110,000 words. I'm on the third draft now, so I don't expect it to go down any. I've cut the crap out, and made it a little richer. I think I'll do one draft after this then start the subby process.
From what I've read, 80,000 words is typical for a normal novel, but sci-fi and fantasy gets more slack because you're creating a world. 120,000 seems to be the cap for an introductory spec fic piece, though there are always exceptions.
Matt
Murphy's Stunt Double:
King -
Thanks again. Your insights are more helpful than you realize! I recognize now that I seem to be doing more worrying about getting the first draft complete than accepting the reality that my strong suit is editing anyway! Rewriting is my friend, not an insult to my ego.
<<<<< going to start calling King "Harley" for kickstarting my engine again. :^)
Drew:
--- Quote from: RMatthewWare on May 02, 2007, 10:28:53 PM ---From what I've read, 80,000 words is typical for a normal novel, but sci-fi and fantasy gets more slack because you're creating a world. 120,000 seems to be the cap for an introductory spec fic piece, though there are always exceptions.
Matt
--- End quote ---
It's also too expensive for the publisher to print. That's why Dragon Moon Press didn't publishe mine, they didn't want to cut it. Archbooks cut into three and if they sell well, they'll pub the whole thing as I first wrote it.
King of De Nile:
--- Quote from: Murphy's Stunt Double on May 03, 2007, 12:21:27 AM ---King -
Thanks again. Your insights are more helpful than you realize! I recognize now that I seem to be doing more worrying about getting the first draft complete than accepting the reality that my strong suit is editing anyway! Rewriting is my friend, not an insult to my ego.
<<<<< going to start calling King "Harley" for kickstarting my engine again. :^)
--- End quote ---
*snort* It took me a second read to get the Harley joke. Must be more tired than I thought.
Any time, and I'm glad you got something out of me. I'm much better at helping other people than finishing my own stories. I over-revise, probably because I'm scared of actually sending the stories off, and eventually I just get frustrated and move to the next story. I know why I do it. Stopping is a little harder...
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