Story Math
So the original romance novel that I wrote during NaNo was about 54,000 words. The market I’m aiming for is 55-60K. I threw out a bunch of scenes and added new ones. Apparently they are longer ones!
Today I discovered that, at 38K, I’ve reached the half-way point of my printed-out copy of the original draft. Kinda scares me. I can’t afford this book to come in at 76,000! I’m on scene 25 of 53, which seems to tell me about the same thing, lengthwise.
On the other hand, half of the original length is 27K, so if I add 27 (what’s LEFT to rewrite) to the current 38, I get 65, which should be much easier to whittle down to 60 than 76 would be.
I’m always on the other end of this stick, trying to lengthen without padding! It’s new to be worried about over-length. However I slice it, though, I have a whole bunch of words to go, so I refuse to sweat about it this week. When I actually get through Scene # 53 is when I’ll figure out a plan of attack.
I’m still on target for finishing this pass by the end of March, unless it really does turn out to be 76… Nah. I’m NOT going to worry about that today.
I’m not.
Still, that’s kinda long, isn’t it?
Yay for NOT worrying about it. Write the book and then evaluate. You’re not gaining anything by doing it in the other direction.
Congrats on making progress with you book! I too am working on a novel and I can relate to everything in this post. Best of luck finishing the book! : )