That Time I Passed 50,000 Words

It finally happened. That elusive 50,000 word marker that seemed to be miles away when I started writing this thing, is finally here. I'm not participating in NaNoWriMo, mind you, but 50,000 words is still a huge checkpoint along my way to finished manuscript-dom. If you remember correctly, I took almost the entire summer, and most of the fall, off from my novel. I returned to it very recently with a second wind. A fresh set of lungs.

I read a quote recently... and I can't remember it verbatim or track it down anywhere... but it went something like this: Writing a first draft is a lot like tossing a bunch of sand into a pile, so that you can build sandcastles later on. I have no earthly idea who said that (probably some crazy person) but it really resonated with me. So much of what I'm doing right now is just getting the story down, making sure things happen when they're supposed to and that characters are in position, when they're supposed to be in position... saving the day whenever it is they're supposed to be saving the day. That kind of thing. My daily routine is always to re-read whatever chapter I was working on the previous day, just to get back into the story, only stopping along the way for minor edits to said chapter. Then I move the story forward. That's my mantra with this first draft. Get it down. Get it down. Get it down.

Okay. So, here's my "pile of sand":

 

Annnd, here's my "sand-castle":

 

No wait... that's not right. HERE is my "sand-castle":

Better. Probably not quite that old, though. That' s a really old book right there.



 

Still lots to write, but I'm making progress. I actually just passed 51,000 words if we want to get technical. 37 chapters, out of a probable 49 or 50, done. 200+ pages. Not too shabby, Tommy. Not too shabby. 

 

Please keep checking back for more updates and find me doing the Twitter thang @RimerTom

 

#amwriting