38,400 words and counting ….
… handwritten!
I couple of months ago I completely splurged on some clairefontaine notebooks. It was a splurge, because I just scrawl out a first draft, copy it into the computer, and never touch the handwritten draft again. Nor am I interested in collecting such things, I usually recycle them. However, I found my hand aching – enough to be distracting – and had read that my fountain pen would be more compatible with this paper, and it totally is … smooth and lovely … my hand may still ache after a couple of hours, but not due to the pen/paper.
So today, just now – actually in the middle of a scene – I filled my first one of these notebooks. That’s 192 pages, averaging 200 words per page. So, 38,400 words completed on my newest novel, an urban fantasy, Cupcakes, Trinkets and Other Deadly Magic. I’m just beyond the midpoint, and have a habit of being more wordy in the set up than in the resolution, so I’m probably on track for a 60,000+ word novel. Super cool.
Okay … I’m off to grab a fresh notebook and finish the scene!
Tomorrow starts National Novel Writing Month , or NaNoWriMo. Two years ago I started my first novel after seeing an ad for NaNoWriMo on the 100 Words website. During NaNoWriMo 2011 I wrote an additional 50,000 words on the novel (this being the goal each November – to write a total of 50,000 words during the month). Today I finished what will be the last of the major revisions. All that’s left to do is one more read through on paper, and then it’s off to the conversion/formatting service to prepare it for self-publication as an e-book.