I revised until my eyes burned and the word count totals for this week reflect that fact!
Word Count Progress:
Draft #1 Word Count:
- Start Word Count: 55,440
- End Word Count: 60,366
- Total: 4,896
Draft #2 Revised Word Count:
- Start Word Count: 57,074
- End Word Count: 62,703
- Total:5,629
Writing Process Notes:
- The scenes I worked on this week were so intense they literally left me emotionally and physically exhausted! However, as the conflicts between my character’s escalate, I know that means the climatic end scene is within reach. With that scene so close at at hand, I am happily working through the exhaustion in order to get to the last line!
- A wide divide has developed between the word counts of Drafts 1 and 2. Several new scenes have been added in places where I made notations to expand descriptions and plot elements. So far, I’m loving the changes!
- I am still shooting to complete the second draft by the end of March. It’ll be a tight schedule, but I think I can do it!
Novel Tidbit:
Realistic Fantasy
- I decided to create urban fantasy as opposed to straight up fantasy because I like creating something people can relate to on a personal level. My favorite stories are those that take something honest and give it an elaborate place to breathe. Sometimes the real world is big enough to harness that honesty, but at other times fantasy is in order to create metaphors and imagery that can’t exist in reality.
- While fantasy allows for limitless creation, I also believe in striking a balance between realistic and fantasy-based elements. For urban fantasy to work, the plot and characters need a strong connection to a reality in which readers can place themselves. So, when fantasy elements are introduced, it makes them that much more fantastical and believable. I want readers to allow themselves to think, even if for just a second, that something magical could be real. In a sense, the real world only needs a dash a fairy dust to sparkle.
- The bulk of Novel #2 takes place in Phoenix, Arizona. Most scenes take place in real places, including coffee shops, movie theaters, and Amanda’s home. It’s only in the last quarter that the setting changes to something completely out of this realm. In doing this, Ian’s realm becomes something even more incredible. I want readers to be awed in the same way Amanda is when they enter this amazing world by her side.
- Ian’s special abilities are the only bit of “magic” until the end of the novel. Part of the reason I did this was to emphasize the unique nature of his identity. That being said, he is not without faults or weaknesses, just like any human.
- Amanda’s mortal status is necessary to make the story work, but I also went out of my way to make her stronger than Ian in unconventional ways. He may be the supernatural being, but she bests him in ways that will ultimately change his fate.
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c.b.w. 2013
C.B. Wentworth 