I’ll be honest, I did not expect to maintain this level of effectiveness. I wrote another 7,000 words this month, sitting at just over 81,500 total words. Not only that, I finished chapter 15 and very nearly finished chapter 16 along with it. That means there’s only one more full chapter left to write. It may have taken me over a year and a half, but closing in on the finish line feels pretty good.
Chapter 15 deviated a bit more from my outline than I was first anticipating (I sense a theme in these posts, don’t you?). It ended up even a bit shorter than chapter 14, but I really like the beats I was able to hit. Because of the changes, though, I don’t doubt I’ll have to go back during my revision and make sure things are set up correctly. I tend to take notes on important points to keep in mind during my revision. This helps to remind myself what story points need to be brought up earlier to make the payoffs more satisfying. That was the case with both chapter 15 and 16, with portions changing from what I had originally intended. Such is semi-discovery writing, I guess.
The funny thing that I definitely did not expect were some of the breadcrumbs and tidbits I started sprinkling in for a potential sequel. I had always thought of this story as a standalone with sequel potential, but the more I’ve written and the closer I’ve gotten to the end of this draft, the more ideas started to come to me for what happens next. I like where this book ends and think it’s an important stopping point for the story. However, I’ve found myself adding hints at what’s to come that won’t necessarily mean anything in this book. The goal is (assuming I do end up actually writing a full sequel) to make those little breadcrumbs click once the big reveal occurs. The mantra I take to heart is that a big reveal/twist should be surprising but inevitable. My favorite moment when reading is when the climax hits, and all the dots click into place. I’m hoping I can pull something like that off here, but I guess we’ll see.
If I can somehow keep up this pace, I see no problem finishing this book in July. It very well could end up bleeding into August, to be honest, but that’s still much faster than my goal of getting it done by October. As a heads up, once I am done writing, I will likely take a small break. I want to go through and read it, maybe make some notes, let my brain process everything. Then I’ll probably start revising it. It’s definitely exciting to have a second novel actually exist with a beginning, middle, and end. I can’t wait!