This week's reckoning

[desperance]

Okay, it's Tuesday, it's damn near noon: time to check in, then, for the Race to the End of the Book. Last week's numbers for me were 51,698 words, 156 pages: this week -

65,610 / 90,000 (72.9%)

Or, in pages:

200 / 300 (66.7%)

Which is 13,912 words for the week, which ain't bad at all. [Yes, I do know there are people out there to whom that's barely a day's work, but phooey. 2000 words a day is okay by me. Funny how defensive you get, though, in the light of other people's wordcounts...]

Looking at where I am in the story, against the projected length of the book, I guess it and I will overrun by somewhat. This will be no surprise to you, as it is no surprise to me. If I have to do too many extra laps, it may hand the victory to Dave, but hey. In the end, the book's the thing; the race is just for fun (he said, gritting his teeth, girding his loins, discovering that writing can after all be a competitive sport...).

So, davidbarnett, where are you...?

Comments

[davidbarnett.livejournal.com]

69,279 / 100,000 (69.3%)

14,568 words this week, which is good for me. Things are revving up; not sure I can maintain this but then again the book is hinting to me that it might not require 100K to tell the entire story. Perhaps I shall, Dick Dastardly-like, shorten the racetrack by means of some nefarious device from Acme...

[tavishsdoll.livejournal.com]

Checking in guys! Am still way behind, and the weeks wordage has been better for me but dismal compared to you two. Well done. (still have no roof plus a nice selection of waterfalls in various parts of the house when the weather gods decide we've been ignoring them too long) Hey and 2000 is a terrific day for me. Sadly fingers type faster than the brain cells can produce. Must try harder, mutter, mutter, must try harder, mutter, mutter....


55,052 / 100,000
(55.1%)

[tavishsdoll.livejournal.com]

Where did it go? I just knew that nice little meter thingy was too much for someone as technologically challenged as myself....

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Um, did you try to copy-and-paste the pretty meter thingy? The trick is to copy-and-paste the code in the box below - this may sound ridiculous and look impossible, but it does actually work...

[tavishsdoll.livejournal.com]

Darn - that's what I tried first - then decided it couldn't possibly work because the preview didn't show it!

[tavishsdoll.livejournal.com]

Hey, got it to work this time - Mucho thanks Chaz

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Go you, you're doing fine. And I'm not being patronising, either.

I think I'd rather have a brain that can't keep up with the fingers, than fingers that couldn't keep up with the brain. That way you'd lose things...

[devonellington.livejournal.com]

That's fantastic work, Chaz! You're doing a good, steady pace.

I have a question -- I emailed you but am not sure if that's all working - for the article -- do you ever have a problem letting go of a character at the end of a piece?

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Did get the e-mail, thanks, and will reply at longer length for the article. In brief, yes and no. The joy of characters is that they don't go away, just because the book has ended. So long as the book is on the shelf, they still exist, obviously; but they are also bright and fresh in my head. It's a sort of timelessness; I still have them as they were at the start of the book, as well as at the end (so that for those who ended badly, hey, it's okay, we can rewind...).

And, of course, there is always the blessed sequel. Even for those who ended badly. Don't tell anyone, it's a private joke: but there are two characters in one book who are both ghosts. They both died in previous stories, but I liked them enough to bring 'em back; and they both disappear mysteriously before the end of the book, as ghosts are wont to do...

[samarcand.livejournal.com]

I'm going to have re-read everything now, aren't I? In a desperate attempt to work out who they are?

Although I seem to vaguely remember you telling me this before, actually, so I think I may have an idea about which book it is...