Apologies For My Brief Absence

Sorry to have been away for awhile. I've been furiously working on my "new thing" for a week or so and have been too absorbed in it to think of much else (including laundry, dishes, dinner, family or sadly my husband). Luckily, everyone has been very good about my sudden disappearance and neglect of my regularly scheduled duties. My husband has been happily eating take out for the last several days (I hope this unexpected pleasure is not an indication of the quality of my cooking). I have been slaving away and in the last week have been hitting the big numbers and surprisingly enough I think it all is quality. At least it feels good. At last count I was up to an astonishing 38,000 words this month and February still has six more days left. Needless to say I'm ahead of schedule and pretty proud. A lot of this success I think has come down to the support of my own planning and organization.

I've been diligent with my notebooks and binders this time, rigorously preparing character bios, chapter outlines, setting maps and sections. It has been more prep work than normal, but I think it is really paying off in my confidence in my words and motives. The plot is of course important and I had that firmly established long ago, but the development of characters, family groups and dynamics has been essential for this one and I'm trying hard to earn every ounce of progress. It is really wiping me out at the end of the day...explaining feebly the present state of my house.

I've been doing some reading on novel length lately and am happy to report that I seem to be on track for an average novel. The online advice I've found so far can be found here. However, there does seem to be a lack of consensus on page length; with some critics suggesting 250 words per page and others stacking it up closer to 500. Any thoughts or feelings on the subject would be gratefully received. J.A.