Yea! Chapter 30 is finished!
I finished Chapter 30 of Western Watch a few days ago and sent it off to SYoshiko for her thoughts. The novel now stands at a little over 121,000 words and I estimate that three more chapters — roughly 15,000 words — are all that is necessary to finish this beast. Well, the first draft, anyway.
I’m a little fearful that the ending does not quite tie up all of the lose ends. I remember reading rule #7 of Pixar’s 22 rules of storytelling:
Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard. Get yours working up front.
Mind you, I was more or less in the middle when I read that rule. Oh well, that’s what second drafts are for. I am pleased, thought that I had revelation that gives serious motivation to one of Lady Merreth’s antagonists. If you haven’t run across the Pixar list, I strongly recommend you take a peek.
I’ve learned a lot about plot and story structure during this writing during. Most of it after when it would have been most useful. Damn it. Did I mention second drafts?
