09
Mar
5K Challenge Report
0
I did it, I did it! *dances around like crazy thing*
Well, close enough.
I wrote 4895 words yesterday. They are words I like, even. I could have hit 5000 and officially conquered my goal, but the clock downstairs chimed 4 a.m. and I was at a good stopping place, so I thought it best to get to bed.
Of course, once I went to bed, plot twists and character developments kept spooling out. It took me an hour to fall asleep. Which means I only slept for 3 1/2 hours and I feel a little drunk today. I’m going to be awesome tonight at book club. I haven’t read the book, for one thing. I’ll have one glass of wine and fall asleep in my fish & chips.
But it was completely worth it. I worked my way out of the mid-book slump! I hit 40K!
Most importantly, I feel in love with my book again.
Really, for me, it’s all about the characters. In my second draft I’ll strengthen the world-building and correct where the mysteries veer off course in the first half. For now it’s about unraveling who these people are and what they want most and what’s in their way and what they’ll do to get it and will they hurt people they love in the process (that’s a yes) and how will they handle that?
I love my protagonist, Cate, who’s bossy and brave but Good Lord stubborn and clueless about people. She’s made mistakes in these last few chapters that are going to come back and bite her. I feel a sort of terrified delight at seeing them looming up ahead and wondering exactly how she’s doing to deal with it. I love her sisters too: Maura, who’s impetuous and lonely and romantic and jealous, and Tess, who’s playful and young and brilliant and perceptive. I have this crazy idea that this is a trilogy, and the second book will be from both Maura’s and Cate’s points of view, and the third book will be told alternately by all three sisters. *gulps*
I’m happy and sleep-drunk and in love with the world today. It’s sunny and sixty and I’m wearing pink flats and no coat. I’m also lying in wait for the UPS man, who is going to deliver The Dead-Tossed Waves sometime today. I might squeal at him again.
