I am almost done with the first draft of Vacillating Vigilante! Only about 11,000 words to go (an optimistic estimate, to be sure). Then re-write, send to an editor, and then on to others who will review and give me feedback. And finally to publishing.
In terms of the Blake-Snyder outline, I have finished the Act III Turning point 2, which means I about to go into the action-packed finale and finale image parts of the novel.
Theoretically, the hard part for me has been accomplished. It was difficult getting here, more difficult than most of my previous novels. I am not sure if this is just due to a wave of fatigue with trying to get 26 books written or if it is due to the general malaise I’ve suffered this summer from having my door broken, heat waves, depressing cable news channel broadcasts, and a failure of my latest diet to have any real effect on my excessive weight.
I suspect my lack of productivity is more due to the latter. At least I hope so.
I keep a log of my writing performance, by day, for each of my books. The chart below shows when I started Vacillating Vigilante (back in May) and my performance up until today. As you can see, my performance has been a bit splotchy. I would like to say that the stretches of time with zero production are spent in plotting, but the truth is, they probably were spent binge-watching television. Or reading! Yes, reading. I have actually spent the summer reading about six books, mostly mysteries or thrillers.
I have eleven scenes left to write, and I think once I get started on actually writing, I will make fast progress.
It’s just difficult to get into the first of those eleven scenes. But even as I type that, I’m getting an image of how the scene will go…
You know, it’s time to get back to writing.
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