Kiss me till I can’t breathe

Is it a look, a touch, a sound that compels us to act in a way that is even surprising to the doer? Can something so simple cause an action to change and re-direct into a completely different result? Sometimes we are in situations we never expected, never saw coming, and somehow we grasped the moment and rode it. Rode that moment so hard it became an over the top movie moment complete with fireworks and a burning passionate kiss. Passion, passion, passion exploded and climaxed.

These moments grasp me, hold me tight and shake the living hell out of me. When I write, emotions go wild and I find myself holding my breath until I finish a paragraph. The effort that goes into my writing isn’t any less valid than a business plan. I am creating a certain art form, images in people’s heads, an emotional connection that is stronger than any number can be. Words are weapons and I have to be careful not to hurt.

My characters are strong willed and so very real to me. I would love to spend time with them. I hope when people read my story they feel it too.

88,600 and how I learnt to stop worrying about word count

The thing about word counts is as high as they go they’ll eventually hit a plateau. At some point I have to end the story and not make a blithering mess of it. I’m so very close to the end and I feel like even my characters are just saying get on with it.

Right now, my characters are preparing for their last day together before they journey to Hell. What would you do with your last day? Clearly, be with the ones you love, try to stretch time, try to do all the things you always wanted to do, and love fiercely. It’s time to let them be on their path, to let them go bravely, and to write an ending that is just another beginning.

 

 

People I’ve spoken to have told me that YA paranormal word count is shorter than the average novel 50-80K. If this is the average based on an editor’s preference I’m not in favour of that. I find it hard to believe that authors would limit themselves. Apparently publishers don’t want a 100-120K word count for the first book. I suppose this is for printing cost reasons? Yet another reason why I am going to self publish. That sound self righteous, but enforced limitations is something that doesn’t sit well with me. No thank you.

I’ve been looking into what the average YA paranormal novel word count come in at and here’s a blog post I found most useful:

Average Word Counts
Micro-Fiction - up to 100 words
Flash Fiction - 100 – 1,000 words, usually no more than 500.
Short Story - 1,000 – 7,500 words
Novellette - 7,500 – 18,000 words
Novella - 20,000 – 45,000 words
General Novel - 50,000 -110,000

Genre Guidelines
Young adult - 55,000-90,000 words
- YA contemporary tends to be on the shorter side, 60-70k
- YA fantasy, sci-fi, and paranormal tends to fall on the longer side due to world building,

I’m feeling pretty good about where I’m at and by most standards I fall quite nicely into the norm. This is the only time in my life where I’ve given a hoot about the norm/average. I’m going to enjoy my accomplishments so far and keep going! There’s a story to be told and I’m going to do it.

If I fall will you catch me?

Trust is a huge issue for me regarding my story. I have been burned before with people trying to rip off my ideas and characters, so I find it incredibly hard to just hand over my story to anyone to read. I have to start somewhere I suppose. Lucky enough, I have met a few very good people and I have been able to extend that trust to them.

Would I lie to you?
Would I lie to you honey? (Oh, no, no, no)
Now would I say something that wasn’t true?
I’m asking you sugar, would I lie to you?

People can be deceiving, but I can’t live in  my bubble and not take a risk. I have to know no matter what I will push through and see my story finally edited and published. I’ve been waiting all this time to finally do something about my dream and I feel like I finally woke up. After a very long hiatus I’m getting closer and closer to realizing my dream.

crawl out the window
make my way down the brick wall
you don’t have to be there
to catch me I won’t fall

I want to live in a John Hughes movie

I suppose I am some kind of romantic at heart, even though I really dislike mushy scenes. There’s something majestic about John Hughes’ characters. I adore them, the soundtracks and the way they made me feel.

1988 The Great Outdoors

1987 Planes, Trains & Automobiles

1986 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

1986 Pretty in Pink

1985 Weird Science

1985 European Vacation

1985 The Breakfast Club

1984 Sixteen Candles

All movies I laughed and cried with. Something about them made me never want to forget the feelings they made me feel.

Until you give yourself to him

I have been listening to the Donnie Darko soundtrack through this last part of the book and hot damn it is heating things up. All of a sudden my main female lead cannot keep her hands off her un-dead boyfriend. Why should she, she’s going to face the unknown, literally going through Hell and hopefully back. What teenager can resist a good make out session complete with pelvic thrusts while fully clothed? I am trying to keep this PG.

Dialogue from my MC Darien: “If I had a heart it would beat for you.” Ahh. Is it wrong to be in love with your characters? Honestly. I am a big dork. I know this.

I’m 83, 600 words deep and I think it’s going to be just shy of 100,000 before I finish. Maybe more if I throw in that dream sequence scene. Oh man. Half of me wants to just finish, half of me wants to go on, and a third of me is really wondering where I’m going to come up with the money for editing? The things we do for our art.

Climbing that mountain – 79, 516 words at a time

I’m getting there. I’m actually very close and I can almost see the end of the story on the horizon. It makes me giddy and frightened at the same time. I want to celebrate, but I have grown so close to my characters I hate to stop having my daily conversations with them. I suppose that means onto book two already!

I’ve asked many authors how many words do you consider a novel and I’ve received answers ranging from 50,000 to 120,000. I’m thinking I might have another 10,000 words left till it’s over. I like to think I’m in the middle range of a good length. I really wanted to hit the 100K mark, but not sure if I will. It’s an ego thing I suppose and I have to keep that in check. Story telling is an art, not a word count race. For the sake of my characters  and the story I will not bloat them to reach a fantasy figure I have in mind. The characters are not my puppets, they are my means of expression and I love each of them enough to not exploit them.

Let’s see what happens.

Getting there

Through my writing journey I have spent many hours thinking, humming and hawing, fussing about and finally writing. It’s odd to think in a few months I may be done with all this. I can see the end and it’s nigh. I’m already thinking of the second book and how it will be completely different than the first.

Like a long distance runner who can see the finish line, I’m preparing mentally for when that day comes and how I cannot allow myself to be disappointed that the race is over.

I suppose people have some sort of relief, phew, the race was won feeling. I doubt I will, but who knows. I can’t say that honestly just yet. Still, I’d like to break 100K. I know I can’t be bogged down with numbers, it will all be a wash in the editing. Ah, the editing. Who can live without their work being hacked and sawed into fragments? Sigh.

I’m very sure the editor I work with will be understanding and help more than anything. The race never really is over, now is it, always something.

Back to the keyboard, back to the whiteboard, back to the writing.