I have been writing madly all lastnight and since 5am this morning and am pleased to say that just in this one sitting, i have managed to write a great 2,700 words! I am so pleased with myself, i think i should treat myself to a new book! although, wait, bills have to be paid, food has to be bought and thats only the beginning sigh remind me to buy a nice book in a few weeks as a reward lol.

Kerrie.

well, if you are going to buy a book, i suggest Destiny of the Light!
Well done Kerrie its a good feeling that you have reached a word count so quickly! I plan each holidays to write aleast 1500 words a day making it 10500 wods a week. sounds a lot huh! Its works out rather well, and i have many stories started this way! (none are finish persay, only first drafts!) good luck.

Timna,
I wish I had that amount of drive in me! That is one very impressive plan you have there. Lastnight I didn't get as much as I wanted done unfortunately, as I wasn't feeling 100% but still, I managed to make it just over 34,000 words. Which to me, is still a big achievement because not only did i reach this word count, but I actually completed editing on my first chapter!! Isn't this great? I am very happy with myself and made a note this morning that I will definately stop by in Mary Ryan's Bookstore early this morning and have a browse. Lou- your book is looking good! lol.

Kerrie

Wow, that's a lot of words. So pleased for you Kerrie. And I love your plan, Timna. You never know what the future holds, but if you don't have a plan, you don't have a path to head down. I hope your holidays bring quiet creative days that fill you with inspiration and the words just pour out.

I am proud of you both, Timna and Kerrie! You are an inspiring pair!

So you are editing and expanding your story, Kerrie. Must be exciting and enlightening. You go girl!

And, Timna, so happy you have a plan for your break from Uni. Dream Hunters will be on the book shelves before you know it. (As will Four Winds.)

My word count has stopped at about 57,000 words but I have grand aspirations to push it up shortly.

deb

Deb,
That is such a great achievement to reach! 57,000 words - Gosh, I can't even begin to imagine my novel yet at that word count! Lol I want everyone to know that I have my red pen ready and cup of tea at hand! I honestly cannot explain the vibes I have been picking up from this group in the past week. Since I bought that laptop, it has worked like an absolute dream!

I am filled with such great ideas and creativity, that I am up at half past 4 in the morning, no alarm needed- I am too excited to wait! This feeling of excitement makes me realise. I was thinking about my future just a few months back and what i wanted to do with it. I thought about becoming an actor in theatre, then a teacher in literature and history.. then.. there was a pause! I couldn't get into uni to do the batchelor of arts (drama) and i couldn't see myself going back to school to raise my grades, so i could teach literature and history to others.

But I could write! And I didn't need anything to do it and enjoy it, as all I need for writing - comes from my heart and my mind being alert and motivated with ideas. This is what I want to do for a living.

Now you see why I look forward to meeting you all. Others, who have the same feelings towards writing as I do.

(sorry for the story, but I can't help but feel so excited, just thinking about getting home and working on 'Lost Hearts' Lol)

Kerrie

Well, the plan is just a plan. Asked me in the middle of August how far i got in word count! Was dreaming about Four Winds last night! Maybe thats a sign!
Im off for a few days to see what the weather in WaggaWagga is like! I can guess it will be cold..... i have my chemistry labs and exam to do down there, so, i'll be missing your chat on Sunday night (as i did last Sunday) but not fear, atleast i will have written something by the time i get back online.....
Am reading The Novice at the moment, another book i had to start reading..... but will be leaving it at home as to not tempt me while im in wagga to study after all! :)bye now!

Have written nothing whilst in Brissy though I did bring my MS for Wishin' & Hopin' my M&B in case they want to see the whole thing. Doing an edit while I have no laptop to write on.

Did you get time to even open that laptop, Alyson??? I bet you were so busy that the time went too quickly.

deb

Have a great time in WaggaWagga, Timna. We'll be thinking of you on Sunday

Yes, Timna...you have a lovely time in Wagga Wagga. And don't forget to take your winter woolies. We lived in Wagga and it can get mighty cold there in winter.

deb

uhh.. I wanna say that you guys write alot at a time!!!!!! I wish I could writ more oftern myself but my little brither comes along 'will you be finished your book by tonight so you can read it to me?' then i say ' no arawn leave me alone it takes a long time...'
then he either tells me i am a horrible sister or just leaves. then my mum comes along' how many words now?' ... she means well but it anoying when someone breacks your concentration.... at the moment i am up to 12,372 words and i have finally finished chapter one and leapt into chapter two.i love actually writting it because i know of a couple of events that have to happen but other than that i just take it as i go. does any one know how many words a book should be?????? i think maybe ... 10,000 word per chapter and thirty chapters ... is that enough? mymum says it will be too much what do you all think?

Cassie,
I tend to think opposite to that! I usually write 4,500-6,000 for one chapter, otherwise I find that I would never have chapters lol. At the moment I have 28 chapters and it is forever growing. Of course, this is just the way that I find easiest to write, though don't hold your self back, if it is what you want to do. I can't be totally sure on the word count needed for publishing, though I think I recall a word count of 60,000 for most romances and 100,000+ for adventure/sci fi (though the best one to ask is Louise!)

Kerrie

Holly, 30 times 10,000 word chapters is a book of 300,000 words. That's a lot. That's twice the thickness of my first novel. I don't know if they can bind books that thick!

Maybe they can. But perhaps you might be better to make it a trilogy of 100,000 word stories. That way you get paid for three books instead of one

As to chapter length, I just write what comes out. Some of my chapters are long and others are just a page or two, depends on the scene. You don't need to follow a format, particularly for fantasy.

I usually tend to write shorter chapters at the start of the book - setting up, then longer chapters in the middle and short chapters again as the characters are all working towards the climax at the end. I've been told after the fact that this is a long-held tradition in Irish writing, so perhaps my ancestry is showing through I certainly didn't do it that way consciously. But the point is you write it the way you like it. There are no rules for chapter lengths as far as I know, but as to word count, it's sensible to not write a huge book if you can help it because you might have more trouble selling that to a publisher.

Far as I know the average length of a fantasy novel is 150,000, but certainly not less than 100,000 unless you're writing a young adult novel.

hey lou, i think you got me and cassie mixed up. either that or im just really confused lol

ahh well its all good. ive gotten about 5000+ words done in the past couple of days

cool so this means i dont have to write too much!!!! umm well the problem i had with my first chapter was i could never find any where to finish it! uhh i eneded up at 10,000 word by the time i was done i think it would probably be better to have 5,000 word chapters so when i start edditng i'll fix it. well you were all right my mum said 300,000 words would be far to much so i'll aim for about 100,000 to 200,000 that way i will be fine. i just have so much i want to right and its hard not to run away on the computer with my typing ... unfortunaly i cant type as fast as i think i only have 2 events that have to happen and in between and after are a complete mystery although at the moment i am having fun with the teachers and their strange and waky class rooms!!!! one of my characters that i hate is called andrea ..i hate him cause he's not nice and he keeps popping up every where he is a very cruel person and i wish you guys could read what i already have written!!!!