I'm currently wrapping up the final chapters of Part III of Arrow, but probably won't post again until Monday.
I cannot believe this novel is already 200k+ words and we're only just reaching the halfway point. Back in September, when I originally outlined the story and started writing the first chapters, I estimated that the book would be about 180k words and that I'd finish writing it around Halloween. Boy, was I wrong.
I think the reason I so greatly underestimated the length is because I don't normally (ever) write 3rd-person stories. I usually prefer 1st-person, so that I only need to concern myself with a single POV.
Not only is Arrow 3rd-person, the cast list is huge. Sixty students, seven faculty and staff, five soldiers, and a pharmacist. And that's just at the school. With Mike, Linda, Theresa, Marcus, Michelle, Endora, Grace, Alexis, Kali, Charmagne, Fulton, and Eric all having fully developed character arcs, it takes quite a long time to unroll that tapestry.
I do sometimes worry, though, that having so much going on might drag down the story's pacing. This novel is the opposite of lean. It's chunky fat. Do we really need to hear what everyone's thinking about every little thing? Probably not. I just find them all so interesting, so I want to give each character a voice. Even if it's a small one.
Oh well, as Mike might say, we can always clean that up in post.
So, what began as a really long book will likely end up as an epic-length novel of 400-500k words. My goal was to finish Arrow before the end of the year, so that I could get back to Forbidden Fruit and The Protege, but I don't think that's going to happen.
I'm not complaining though. Writing Arrow has been such a joy and a pleasure. The ups and downs, the twists and turns, the scheming and backstabbing. Mm! I love it. To those of you who've written to tell me how much you're enjoying it, I thank you. Your words inspire me and help to keep my fingers on the keyboard.
After Part III concludes next week, I'm going to take a few days to rest and settle my mind before I begin publishing Part IV.
Happy reading.