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Post by Dmitri Pendragon on Jun 11, 2019 11:35:47 GMT
Leilani Sunblade: Just finished a very battered draft of the first chapter composed of a fair few disconnected scenes. It wanders and I've really struggled with this first chapter but some parts are gold. Word-wise, I'm in my first formal week and I've averaged around 2.5K yesterday and today, with another 2K written prior to the first week. I'm hoping to work my average up to 4.5K per day so I can finish by the start of July when I start my next semester (estimated 80K total).
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Post by Leilani Sunblade on Jun 11, 2019 12:31:51 GMT
Dmitri Pendragon: Dude. Your first chapter is 6K? That seems really long. Glad it's going reasonably well, though.
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Post by Dmitri Pendragon on Jun 12, 2019 8:01:25 GMT
Leilani Sunblade: I say chapter length, I should probably say scenes. I wrote most of Chapter 2 today and it's barely over 1000 words. In future chapters I'll try to aim for something between those two marks.
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Post by Leilani Sunblade on Jun 12, 2019 10:56:56 GMT
Dmitri Pendragon: Ah. That makes more sense. I mean, I guess Wheel of Time and maybe Stormlight Archive might have chapters that are regularly that long? Particularly WoT? But those books are rather longer than 80K. xD Outside of writing, anything exciting going on in your life?
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Post by Dmitri Pendragon on Jun 13, 2019 6:14:42 GMT
Leilani Sunblade: It's been years since I've made any conscious decisions about chapter length. How long a chapter would you expect from an 80K novel? How many chapters, at that? Nope! Any for you? Are you specially involved with the Golden Braids Challenge cover release event?
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Post by Leilani Sunblade on Jun 13, 2019 20:23:24 GMT
Leilani Sunblade : It's been years since I've made any conscious decisions about chapter length. How long a chapter would you expect from an 80K novel? How many chapters, at that? Nope! Any for you? Are you specially involved with the Golden Braids Challenge cover release event? I'd probably expect 2-3K chapters, which comes out to about 30-40 chapters in the novel. (I say this as someone who recently wrote a slightly-over-80K novel containing roughly 40 chapters.) That said, it would depend somewhat on the genre and the author's overall style. If you're writing epic fantasy (or, I suppose, epic sci-fi? is that a genre?) in a style similar to that of Tolkien or Jordan, I suppose I would expect chapters to be a bit longer.
I am indeed involved with that! Very excited for that (though I'd be more excited if I hadn't been sick all week). And I'm currently working on what should be the last or second-to-last round of edits on Mechanical Heart.
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Post by Asariah Darkthorne on Jun 13, 2019 21:28:23 GMT
I'm back after a long sojourn into the lands of adventure, anything interesting happen while I was away? Or are things continuing much as they have this past age, full of their own comings and goings, scarcely aware of the existence of Hobbits? Hey'a, Asariah! Glad to see you back! How have you been?
I'll be honest, it's been pretty dead around here. I've probably seen more spam posts than real ones in the last month. But it is what it is. I think school/college and work killed pretty much everyone around here.
Wow, so I've noticed! It's like...us and two other people haha. Maybe things will pick up once summer hits off.
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Post by Leilani Sunblade on Jun 13, 2019 21:51:29 GMT
Hey'a, Asariah! Glad to see you back! How have you been?
I'll be honest, it's been pretty dead around here. I've probably seen more spam posts than real ones in the last month. But it is what it is. I think school/college and work killed pretty much everyone around here.
Wow, so I've noticed! It's like...us and two other people haha. Maybe things will pick up once summer hits off. Hopefully, yeah. I would ask how you're doing, but we're kind of already chatting about that elsewhere . . .
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Post by Ellron Silvertree on Jun 14, 2019 4:20:29 GMT
Howdy ho there, folks and friends. I'm here too, but I usually end up just sort of ghosting and seeing everyone else's posts. On the topic of chapter lengths/number of chapters, J.K. Rowling also has a pretty low total of overall chapters considering her book lengths. Usually around 23/24 chapters if I recall, and she was pretty known for how long her books were.
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Post by Dmitri Pendragon on Jun 14, 2019 9:40:38 GMT
Leilani Sunblade : Thanks! I guess that must be the thing then—I planned 80,000 words in 16 chapters = 5000 words per chapter. This doesn't count as epic—the scope is restricted to one privateering crew—but in 16 chapters the quarters divide into quarters, and that's the way my outlining method divides the rise and fall of the story. My chapters so far have been single "scenes"—the text flows right through, they don't cut to different characters or skip any significant time—and that's part of the reason I've been writing long ones. Awesome! I look forward to the cover reveal and I'm really pleased that you're so close to wrapping up on Mechanical Heart. I look forward to reading it when you publish it! Are you feeling better at the moment? Ellron Silvertree : Hmm, I do believe Terry Pratchett has pretty long chapters in his Discworld books as well. I visit the Underground every day and read everything that gets posted, but don't initiate anything.
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Post by Leilani Sunblade on Jun 14, 2019 13:16:33 GMT
Ellron Silvertree: Hey'a! How are you doing? And good point. Dmitri Pendragon: Ok, that makes sense. And if your chapters are single scenes, then it's definitely better not to break them up if you can help it. (Also: SPACE PIRATES? I'm excited.) Thanks! And I am starting to feel better, yes. Still congested and coughing a lot, but I'm functional with regard to work and writing (which I wasn't earlier this week). Also, re: Pratchett: Terry Pratchett doesn't have chapters at all in most of his books. The vast majority of them are just one long narrative and you just have to hope there'll be a scene break somewhere around where you need to stop. xD
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Post by jliessa44 on Jun 14, 2019 19:19:45 GMT
I too am here on a daily basis mostly, but I’ve tended to not log in bc I’m lazy and other people haven’t been posting. Lol
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Post by Leilani Sunblade on Jun 14, 2019 20:18:41 GMT
So, that's four of us who are here pretty much every day, but don't post because no one else is posting? Wow. BTW, jliessa44, glad to see you survived college, or at least a year of it! How've you been doing lately?
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Post by jliessa44 on Jun 14, 2019 22:03:42 GMT
Leilani Sunblade. I have indeed survived it. Lol. For now. I’ve been doing pretty good. Super tired though. Works been... eh. Pretty unpleasant honestly. But I’ll be done with it soon. I head back to school the first week of August. How have you been?
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Post by Leilani Sunblade on Jun 15, 2019 12:50:40 GMT
jliessa44: Glad to hear you're doing well, even if work's not great. (Where are you working? Still as a pharmacy tech? Or somewhere else?) I've been doing pretty well. I'm back at my old internship from last summer (working from home, yay!), finishing up preparations for publishing my next book, and thinking about my Camp NaNo novel for next month.
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Post by jliessa44 on Jun 18, 2019 16:40:25 GMT
I’m still working at Starbucks actually. We’ve been super understaffed + people keep calling off so it’s just a whole mess. Lol.
Ooh. What are you thinking of doing for camp nano? I’m debating doing it but I dunno. I’ve been so busy I wouldn’t be able to set my goal very high
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Post by Leilani Sunblade on Jun 18, 2019 23:47:35 GMT
Ah. Oof. That sounds horrible.
I'm planning a sequel to Blood in the Snow, a Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling for Kendra E. Ardnek's Arista Challenge. You should definitely do it, though, even if you can't go for a lot. Would a time-based goal be better for you than a word-based one, do you think?
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Post by jliessa44 on Jun 19, 2019 10:12:50 GMT
Lol. It pretty much is. XD Yesterday I got off at nine instead of six like I was supposed to. I also worked by myself for all but a half hour of it. And I closed. >.<
That sounds cool! I’ve debated a time goal, but I dunno. Most of my writing gets done on my phone during breaks or when I can manage to sneak a couple sentences in at work. I went ahead and set up with a ridiculously small goal (3,100) bc I like participating and I know I can get that done. I figure I’ll increase it as I hit each goal.
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Post by Leilani Sunblade on Jun 19, 2019 12:14:30 GMT
Ouch. I am so sorry.
Makes sense. And that sounds like a good plan! I've done similar things a couple times (though usually not with that plan). Do you need a cabin?
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Post by jliessa44 on Jun 19, 2019 17:19:08 GMT
I would love a cabin.
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Post by Leilani Sunblade on Jun 20, 2019 1:07:03 GMT
Cool beans! I'll send you an invite to mine. So what are you thinking of working on for Camp?
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Post by Idk323 on Jun 20, 2019 2:33:35 GMT
Leilani Sunblade Hope you don't mind me crashing the conversation, but would it be possible for me to join your cabin as well? I did Camp Nano in April, but it wasn't quite as fun in a completely random cabin...
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Post by Dmitri Pendragon on Jun 20, 2019 10:51:24 GMT
Leilani Sunblade : I know, I discovered Pratchett's lack of chapters the hard way and understating things is funny. ELFMEET! Hey, we should all use this time and space to set communication patterns that keep us in contact beyond a sudden and unplanned convergence, and which aren't too difficult to sustain in the long term. ~*communications major*~ Despite my holiday goals I don't think I'll finish my draft by the end of June so July camp would be well timed for me—are you looking for any more cabin mates, Leilani?
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Post by Leilani Sunblade on Jun 20, 2019 12:14:34 GMT
Idk323: Absolutely! I sent you an invite! So excited you'll be writing with us! What are you working on? Dmitri Pendragon: Ahhh. Gotcha. Good plan. And I am absolutely looking for more cabin mates! The more the merrier! You probably will be the only guy, just so you know? But I don't think that'll be an issue.
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Post by Idk323 on Jun 20, 2019 21:09:17 GMT
Ah, I’m not 100 percent sure. I should say that I’m continuing my work on my rewrite of the first World of Panin book, which I have been rewriting for too long. But I also feel like trying to find a new idea to write so I feel like I’m in less of a rut. I suppose it’ll just depend on how I feel, and how much energy I have outside of work.
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Post by Dmitri Pendragon on Jun 21, 2019 7:35:18 GMT
Leilani Sunblade: As a ballet dancer and a library assistant I have no issues with being the only guy. Thank you, I have accepted your invite!
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Post by Leilani Sunblade on Jun 21, 2019 16:32:28 GMT
Idk323: Hey, there's nothing wrong with taking a break from a story you've been working on for a long time. If you want to bounce ideas off someone, you know how to contact me. Dmitri Pendragon: I figured so. xD You are very welcome! How is life as a library assistant, by the way? Still going well?
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Post by Idk323 on Jun 21, 2019 20:15:26 GMT
I might need to take you up on that offer... Is it more convenient to text you (I think I still have you number), or to pm you here?
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Post by Leilani Sunblade on Jun 21, 2019 23:38:26 GMT
Well, if you text me, I'll respond faster, but I don't like using too many texts . . . are you on Google Hangouts? Or Facebook? (The latter is probably a stupid question, but . . .)
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Post by Idk323 on Jun 21, 2019 23:43:07 GMT
Yeah, I have both. Which one would you prefer?
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