AQATWA: I used to write a novel in six months...

[inverarity]

Okay, I am up to 189K words now. So I'm averaging about 5000 words a month. Yes, I can do the math - I am not even going to finish this year at that rate. I'm working on it, which means, among other things, cutting back on some of my other time-sinks. Sometimes that is not easy.

The story is slowly moving towards the third and final act, though that act is going to be long, and multi-part, and there is a major segment that I am not yet sure will fit into this book or needs to be moved into the next.

Alexandra: Sometimes more Chaotic than Good

Alexandra will be doing some things in this book that some readers will not approve of. (Well, when does she not? But she's really crossing a few boundaries this time.) Partly it's because she's going to be pushed pretty hard, and partly it's because it turns out that she's not always iron-willed when it comes to resisting temptation. Also, she's got a bit of her father in her, which will be more obvious in this volume.

Which makes this new piece of fan art, sent to me by KadinD on DeviantArt, appropriate, as it's a rather fierce-looking Alexandra.



The way things are looking right now, you will be seeing a lot more of Alexandra's sisters, but significantly less of her friends. That's not to say Anna, David, and the Pritchards have no role in AQATWA, but this book will be kind of like Alexandra's adventures in Dinétah, only moreso - she spends much of it on her own.

I know many readers don't like it when her friends get sidelined, and they want to see more of the dynamic that characterized the Harry/Ron/Hermione relationship. I do have even more important roles for her friends (even poor David) in future books. But Alexandra was never Harry, parallels notwithstanding. Her friends are important, but often she goes her own way - even when she shouldn't.

The draft is currently kind of a mess, though, as I've said before, so there may be substantial changes after I finally get around to revising and then getting it beta-read.

(And I just clicked back through all my aqatwa entries and found my "New Year's Resolution" to finish the book... in January, 2014. And that these update posts sometimes repeat themselves. Now I am really bummed.)

Comments

[warren peace (from livejournal.com)]

Have you considered posting individual chapters in order, as you complete them? My other favorite one-word pseudonymous writer, Wildbow, says this serial writing process is what keeps him focused on always writing and always moving forward with the story. It also provides instant feedback from your fans, or reminds you on bad days that you even have fans, who are incredibly forgiving of chapters that you might feel stink at the time.

As an artist, I myself find it impossible to love any of my work as it's being created. Only after enough time has passed that I don't really remember creating it, can I have any kind of objectivity toward it. Even having "beta listeners" tell me it was awesome would hardly convince me! So I hope you aren't holding back 189k works of masterpiece, just because you know how much better it can conceivably be!

There's a balance to be found, obviously. I guess what I'm saying is I love the AQ series and am eagerly awaiting more! :)

[inverarity.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the encouragement. But I treat AQ novels as actual manuscripts that need to be edited and revised. I often end up changing things significantly after I first write a chapter, and posting them as I write them would "lock in" whatever plot points I later decide need to be revised.