It was a great writing day yesterday. I did 8 pages and I didn't even start until after 3pm, so I was pretty happy. Except the reason I didn't write more than 8 pages was because the scene was working out to be extremely short. I figured it was because I was tired and I'd hit it again this morning. Only last night, while I was trying to fall asleep, I worked out what the problem is. I need to move those pages at the start of chapter 13 to the end of chapter 12. And shorten them up by cutting out about 2 pages.
All right, let's face it, anyone who's seen the length of my books (and the small type face that they were set in) knows that I can certainly afford to cut. Despite my best efforts, I know I'm going to come in long again on Crimson Gate too. I honestly don't know why I always end up with so many pages, but my writing buddy says it's because I'm really into characterization and that takes room. Well, I am into my characters; they're the fun part about writing. :-)
But I hate to cut pages because of my schedule. I need to do 4 pages a day, every day to stay on track and have revision time. Of course, more pages are always better. It's a silly reason to hate cutting. I know when I start revising, I'll be doing a hell of a lot of trimming. (Unfortunately, a hell of a lot of adding too.) I have a list of things I need to add and then, of course, is the dreaded description/details.
Anyway, I budgeted my time for 400 manuscript pages, so it'll be interesting to see how many pages OVER that I go when the book is mailed in to the editor. Maybe I should do a pool! Ravyn's Flight went in at 412 and I added the epilogue on editor requested revisions for a grand total of around 420 pages. The Power of Two was mailed in at 423 pages, and after editor requested revisions and revisions I wanted to make, came in at a hefty 463 pages. =8-O
So does anyone want to hazard a guess on Crimson Gate? I'm betting on around 430 pages mailed in. Of course, maybe the story will move faster than I think since we're nearly to the point where all hell is going to start breaking loose. On the other hand, I always write more than I think I'm going to write.
MN Weather Report: 25 degrees. Wind Chill: 15 degrees. Freezing drizzle.
