The science of Scrivener

The word-count remains elusive...I tried to use Scrivener to check it, and it said the word count was 89 000, which sounded right and made my spirits rise...but now I'm wondering exactly what is being included in that. 

I've realised I need to take a little more time now to get to know new things about Scrivener before I get back to the editing. I may add a little more in the way of subplots, anyway, but I need to understand how to do certain things with the software, and this break will be a good time to do that. 

If only my Mac hadn't just started to kick me off youtube...things are never simple!

Frustration

I printed my finished novel out! It was so exciting. Then, the next day I looked at the word-count on the front sheet, and my stomach felt like it had swan-dived from the top board. It's only 50, 000 words!

I'm genuinely shocked, and hoping that it's a miscount, otherwise I've got to find a few more. As an over-writer/blatherer, I usually need to word-cull whenever I write anything. I was expecting to do so with this book (although, I have tentative hopes that there is less to edit this time....). Instead, I'm wondering where I can conjure 30,000 more words from. Do I need a whole new sub-plot?

My immediate thought is that one of the main characters could be  fleshed out more, and given more of his own problems to run alongside the main ones. That would ensure he wasn't a cardboard cut-out standing on the side-lines (I have worried that he's a little passive). But I don't know what that will be. And when you've typed 'The End' and then begin to realise you've done so prematurely, it is a little bit of a blow.

It's Such a Perfect Day

I'm so tired my brain is shrivelled to nothing, so I'm probably not up to a proper post. Even if I were, I'm nursing a poorly toddler, who is determined to talk to me about Spiderman as I type, and quite likes pressing keys to be helpful. She may have been a cat in a previous life.

But tonight, I finished my latest novel. It's still a work in progress, because that's only the first draft, but I printed it out, and it's sitting next to me now. That makes it a good day.

Tomorrow there will be things to look at and puzzle why Scrivener has compiled it like THAT, and how to change the other, and then in a few weeks the editing and rewriting, but tonight it's enough.

Yay! I think I deserve to celebrate in a way that hits all my current fantasies- by getting some sleep....but only if I can persuade a poorly girl to go back to bed first.

Gathering pace

I'm reaching the climax of my current work in progress, and finding it harder and harder to leave it. I was nearly late picking Chick-pea up from pre-school this morning, because I was so busy with imaginary people...not a sign of a responsible mother, I suppose!
The story has a momentum of its own now, which I'm loving. The fact that I can't wait to return to it each time I can is reassuring too - I hope that one day someone else might be hooked, reading it, too.
Meanwhile, I've had a filler published in Readers' Digest for £50, and another article accepted (for no fee) for a tiny local magazine. (I went out of my comfort zone for this one, and sought professional quotes to add in). I've been researching parenting magazines that I could send some of my tweaked articles to, but there seems to be a dearth in this market. There are baby magazines, but not much demand for articles about parenting school-age children. Perhaps it's time I researched and explored getting articles published online - but it's another step out of my comfort zone!
I also haven't yet heard anything from the womentoring project that I applied to in October. I'd better re-read the website, but I thought it said that you would hear if you were unsuccessful so that you could approach a different mentor, and the original project was due to close in April, so I'm running out of time there...Plenty of positives to celebrate but still much to aim for!