7,000 words! Not quite as many as last month, but a lot more than the recent average for sure. I completed chapter 13 AND chapter 14, and my current word count is sitting at roughly 74,500. I briefly started chapter 15, but I’m not very far into it yet. That means there are only three chapters left (including 15). If I’m lucky, I may be able to get this thing done long before October. (Hopefully I didn’t just jinx myself…)
Now then, let’s get down to the nitty gritty. There were some interesting deviations I didn’t fully expect when writing chapter 13 and even a bit with chapter 14 (but isn’t that usually how it goes?). In my outline, I fully expected chapter 13 to be one of the shorter chapters in the book, and then chapter 14 to pick up the action again and be longer. In reality, it ended up the exact opposite. Chapter 13 ended up around 23 pages long, while chapter 14 is the second shortest at 16 pages. That’s partially because I chose to split part of chapter 14 off into chapter 15 since the breaking point just felt more natural where it ended up. But still. It’s always interesting where the story seems to flow and break off from my original outline. The general and basic plot stays relatively the same, but how it gets there shifts depending on how the characters are evolving and where it feels natural to take it. Journey before destination and all that (if you know, you know. 😉 ).
Speaking of deviations, chapter 14 ended up a little different than I intended or expected, particularly with one character (potential minor spoilers abound, if you care about that). The original outline called for this character to be killed outright, very blatantly and obviously. When I started writing the chapter, an idea blossomed that I took and ran with. To me, it had started seeming a bit same-y and repetitive having these zombie creatures being the direct, or sometimes indirect, cause of death. While I was writing, I ended up getting more creative and leaving it a bit more open-ended. At this point in the story, rather than seeing another character killed, there’s more mystery on whether or not they survived. I have my own secret outline notes on where things could go and how things are revealed (and some potential ideas to follow up on in a sequel, if that ever actually happens). But for now, I like what I’ve done better than what I had initially outlined. That’s happened more and more with this book as I’ve continued writing, and I think that’s the most fun part. Discovery writing, but set within specific bounds to keep the story focused and moving in the direction it needs.
That’s where we are as of today. only three chapters left, the ultimate climax of the story. No pressure, right?
In full honesty, I don’t expect that I’ll be able to keep this pace I’ve had going for the past two months. My goal is to hopefully finish or be close to finishing chapter 15 by next month’s update, but June is typically a very busy month for us. We have a lot of celebrations to prepare for, and with it getting hotter I usually have less energy at the end of the day. We’ll see though. Maybe I’ll pull off a hat trick?
Until next time!