So here goes, my first check-in for the August WIP marathon…
Current word count: 15, 717
Chapter count: 8
WIP Issues this week: Struggling with pacing because I’m a pantser and don’t really know what’s coming next, so I’m not sure if the pacing is working. I feel almost like I’m at the midpoint of the story and the word count is still so low. But, I know that I usually feel this way and then stuff happens and suddenly my first draft ends up being 60k so I’m waiting for the muse to kick into gear. Right now, just going to keep writing and if the story ends up being 30k well then I have a novella and not a novel and that’s okay too.
What I learnt this week in writing: The importance of foreshadowing. I tend to do a lot of that intuitively, but now that I’m consciously thinking about it, it’s a lot of fun.
What distracted me this week while writing: New story ideas, or a new idea within the current story that takes me further away from the original premise and I’m not sure whether to stick with what I originally wanted to write, or incorporate the new idea and write a completely different book. Pantser woes 🙁
Last 200 words:
“Raleigh!” Crow screams and I jerk the wheel right trying to avoid the wide sedan gunning towards us. It’s too little too late. We slam head-on into the BMW. The back of the truck tilts up like we’re going to cartwheel into the scrub. I slam forward into my seat-belt, the air forced out of my lungs, my face bouncing off the airbag. Stars obliterate my vision, a cluster of constellations replacing the bleak fields. I reach for Crow with numbs fingers, my nose and mouth clogged by dust. I’m so cold like I’ve got ice instead of bones.
“Drifters engaged. Anomaly nixed. Mission status, complete.” A woman’s voice, her boots blood red with black buckles.
“We need to go.” A man’s voice. “Don’t want to get stuck here.”
Receding footsteps and the crunch of tires on dirt. The cold steals over me like a blanket and I know I’m dying. It would be so easy to give in, to let the riptide suck me under, and join Weston wherever he may be. I don’t want to die. Madison shouldn’t have to bury another brother. Momma won’t survive losing another son. I kick against the currents, clawing my way back to the light.
What do you think? Suitable chapter ending? Would you read more?
