Chap. 6 of "Foreigner" Upcoming, But— · 1:47pm Oct 16th, 2014
I had hoped:
When starting this whole Foreigner project that I'd be able to squeeze it into six chapters and 40,000 words. I mean, yes, the phrase "possible epilogue" appears in my notes, but I had dismissed them as the ravings of a madman.
Until I found myself staring at a chapter six that was aiming toward 10,000 words all on its own.
So yes, chapter six should be up and ready for reading once the spackle and paint dries—in the next 12 hours, let's say—and while it will likely push the story to the 40K mark, it won't actually end the thing. I'll try to keep the thrice-dreaded epilogue to under 5K words and try to get it out by next Thursday, but it might just take me two weeks all on its own if it decides to be finicky.
I remain optimistic, though. After all, what could possibly go wrong? 
Mike
Murphy's Law.
Godwin's Law.
Damn silly nazis....
Also, don't worry about wordcount when writing. The characters will tell you when they're done talking.
Hah! Just what I've been saying.
As a reader though, I'd appreciate a story told over the length it requires. So if you have to add a proper chapter 7 in the service of the story instead of a compressed epilogue, that's what I'd like to see. Do what you feel is best ultimately though.
2536584
"What could possibly go wrong?"
Has been my motto for decades. People give me the oddest looks when I use it, though...
2536607
The fantasy author Tim Powers says he never listens to his characters 'cause they all just wanna go to Disneyland instead of running through the storylines he lays out for them.
2536671
It's all about structure with me. I might hafta go back and make the first chapter a prologue, have the next five chapters numbered to correspond with the five acts in a proper Aristotelian drama, and then end with the epilogue. Because I'm just nutty that way.
Mike
2536735
Terry Pratchett just sort of lets whatever ideas that want to shuffle onto the bus. He's just a Carnegie medal winner, and knighted for services to literature.
Pretty much every award winning author just sort of rolls with it.
Any length, any time you need, take it.
Foreigner has already thoroughly infected my Griffin headcannon, the mystery and the (fantastic) characters have my undivided attention.
You have:
Crafted a fantastic story of mystery and politics that has completely captured my imagination. I eagerly await whatever developments you have in store.
And i really want to see how Derpy turns out to be the linchpin of the entire resolution.
2536735
Given what Tim Powers does to his characters I can't blame them for not wanting to go along!
As for chapter layout, well, you just do whatever you have to to justify giving us a full, complete story.
2536751
Alas:
I've never been able to do that. Every time I've tried just sitting down and writing a story without doing any planning, my mind starts racing ahead as soon as I introduce a character or a setting or a situation and gets them all tied together into an overall plot usually by the time I've finished the second page. The outline changes as it goes along, sure, but I know the middle and the end as soon as I start building the beginning...
2536809
Thanks! Derpy is very much the heart of this whole enterprise, so I hope I can do her justice.
2537310
I got to hear Powers speak at a writing workshop I went to back in the late 1980s, and I've been a fan of his ever since.
Mike
2538220
You misunderstand me. I didn't mean to imply a total lack of planning.
I'll have to post the nnotes from Memoirs. The words "yeah nigga yeah" and "shit happened" are placeholders...