Finally, some progress

[feuervogel]

I'm still not finished this damned scene, though. It's up to 2000 words, and I can get another 500+ out of it. Our mercenariesprivate security contractors are taking the government offices where the illegitimate leaders are holed up. They've gotten into the building, but they haven't made it through the dozen(s) of mercenaries guarding them. And it's possible that when I go back and add further description and exposition, it'll be Even More Longer.

Today's word count: 714
Total word count: 43265

Comments

[margaretdriscoll]

I always feel inspired to write after reading your posts. You're always so into your project! That's what comes of writing every day and really saturating your imagination with your fictive world, I suppose. I hope to be back on that disciplined track very, very soon and posting my own frustrations that my scene is just too, too, LONG! Too many words! =D

[feuervogel]

I don't think there's a required length for a scene. It's as long as it needs to be. Though there's always the question of whether every last bit is necessary. It's a related question to "did I start the novel too early?"

I set each scene with a goal of 1000 words, and each chapter has 3 scenes. By the time I finish editing, I get each scene to 1500-2000. I view a scene as a discrete unit with a start, middle, and end, yet also fitting into the chapter as a whole (which has a start, middle, and end). It's like, I have the outline sketched out, and each event gets its own scene. Sometimes I find that I have to break it out into two or three (or more), because each scene is an event. If the event takes 1200 words or 2200, it's a scene. That's kind of circular, isn't it.

Hmm. I've never really thought about it that way. I don't have meta thoughts on how I write, or even have a conscious process.