I’ve sifted through all of the sections that I had in my chapter one file, edited them in together and created a flow of narrative with them.
The feel of it is makeshift at best but it serves its purpose to take the fragments of story that I’ve been writing and bring them together as one. If a simile could be applied, it would be like a broken vase hastily glued together to resemble the vase it once was. I can see the shape more clearly now of the story that I’ve only had glimpses of in my mind for so long. It has surprised me how much of the story I hadn’t included when I’d written in fits and starts because it makes sense to me to write the narrative in the way that I am now.
My aim has been to make each chapter a tidy 5000 words. I’m currently over 5000 words and haven’t finished the chapter. I’ve written all the way to the end of the chapter but provided no segue to the next chapter so I have some more to write before I can leave chapter one behind. With all of this in mind I think that my word count will be closer to 6000 words, I am expecting to edit heavily when I do a serious second draft though.
There are points of the narrative that I am still circling over in the plot where I have written more than I need to. Working through story points has left me feeling dizzy at times dodging back and forth through the words and having little ability to clearly address too many words when my focus has been locked onto how the narrative reads as a flowing story. I will cull some of these points of the story that stand out to me as too much before I move onto chapter two. It feels right to go back and address these areas, I am hesitant though because I love words, there are too many words for this reason. I’ve over-written some of these parts also because I am creating a turning point in the story, or a crucial moment of some type, something that I want to be significant where lots of words seemingly give the story a physical weight on the page.
With chapter two well in sight I’m mindful of not rushing into it, I want to be able to read and digest the work that I have done on chapter one. I want chapter one to be the most progress made on my WIP with clear insights into what I have done and what I have created to work in regard to the whole novel.