Hey all. After a busy September, I’m making my way closer to the end. Ellexis’s story is almost done. Almost.
Here’s what I wrote in September:
- Finally finished Chapter 8.
- Started Chapter 9.
- Edited my chapter structure. Hung Chapter 9 on an outline, wrote a few places to tweak for previously written garble of prose and outlined the concluding chapter.
- And smiled at how close the end is.
Chapter 8 ended up being a lot longer than I thought. I originally wanted to separate it, probably into halves, then carry the plot straight into Chapter 9 with no time skip or POV shift. That would again carry straight into Chapter 10. I found that by simplifying Ch. 8 into its core, I came away with a truncated plot. Easier to piece the rest together. Character arcs could get their moments without going off on too many tangents. And to be frank, I wanted to keep pushing toward the end. Ch. 8 became pretty lengthy.
Chapter 9 is gonna be just the same.
In the end, I choose to combine certain plot points into a couple of longer sections. The more time I took to build them out, I think it would fluff this draft up. It’s already over 70k words. Only that much. You might say that’s good for most books.
It is.
Instead, I wanted focus on the essentials. Chapter 9 will be another chunky one, as I said. It’s the most, let’s say, fascinating, of the entire novel. Seeing what Alpha readers think of it will help me know if it works. As well as how much revision it gets.
That is if I do write another draft. On the flipside, I know how to connect this chapter to the climax already written.
When will it be finished? At this point, I want to finish it by my birthday. I need approximately 12,300 more words. And if I don’t? That’s how it goes. I run on my timetable.
I will save concluding thoughts for another writing update. Its is the last big push and I’m enjoying seeing it come together. By the next update I ought to be three quarters through writing Chapter 9.. Or father.
Ill let you know in a month.
See you then.
Matthew Birdzell 