Friday, November 2, 2007

Annnnnd We’re Off!

Wednesday night ended up being wildly different than I’d anticipated. I slept more, wrote more and had fewer distractions than what I figured I’d have. Despite the wonky schedule and the need for frequent naps, by daybreak I’d written the better part of Chapter 1 and was at about 2,500 words. Not too shabby.

The most amazing thing happened a few hours in. I was absolutely not expecting the male lead to show up as quickly or as confidently as he did. I’m typing along at a merry pace, our heroine (actually more of an antiheroine, but I still love her) searching for the quarry that’s just eluded her and bam, there he is. Not the quarry, mind you, but the guy who ends up causing her to become something greater than she is.

Thank you, Alex, for being so amicable.

I managed to get Chapter One finished by lunchtime, and I even wrote the first few paragraphs of Chapter Two. It’s going well, better than I’d expected, but I know I’m going to run into a block after this chapter is done. I’m hoping to make Two longer than 3k, because it’s all back-story. It’s not the only back-story but it’s a very important chunk.

And now for the first word count-related bribe.

I’ve been getting back into books I read 10+ years ago. I’d really like to revisit the YA books of LJ Smith and Christopher Pike, as they’re what fueled my imagination for years upon years and convinced me to put pen to paper in the first place. Smith’s Vampire Diaries series has been reissued and I picked up the first volume (books One and Two). The second volume will be out shortly, as well. That might work well as a future bribe.

As much as I like the Vampire Diaries, Smith’s other series The Forbidden Game was a favorite of mine back in high school. Think Labyrinth’s Goblin King in a huge house of nightmares, mixed with a bit of teen angst, demented carnival funhouses and a storyline reminiscent of Hades and Persephone. It was probably the first multiple-volume saga I fell in love with.

Well, there’s an “omnibus edition” collecting all three volumes here. It’s a bit pricey, so I may hold off on it, but if I can manage to pull off 10k by Saturday night I’ll think about it. I’ll at least repurchase the original paperbacks in the best conditions I can find. I loved their covers and the omnibus cover sucks, so I may have to do it that way.

I’m starting to get a little anxious. Aside from bits and piece of the plot, and a vague idea of the ending, I have little to go on once I reach the end of Chapter Two. I’m not sure why the antagonist is fucking with my protagonist, and I’m not sure how to tackle the climax of the story. I’m not even sure how to GET to the climax of the story. But the rules are the rules, and I’m just going to throw caution to the wind here and get this word count taken care of. The revision later on this year or next spring will be where I get to clean up the story, despite the fact that it really pains me to have to do it this way.

So, for today, I hope to be 6-7k in by the time I get up, drive to Pittsburgh and take my laptop to Finnegan’s Wake for the kickoff party. Hopefully I’ll have some interesting updates to make later on tonight or tomorrow morning.

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