Made it two out of five days this week Dark & Early so far. This morning, I got the most words I’ve ever gotten that early: over 1400. It was all dialogue and went quickly. In fact, I’ve been writing to that scene … for quite some time now.
The bottom fell out. Of everything.
Maybe it’s because this story started as a 35K novella, but I’ve always thought of it as three separate parts, each with its own three-act structure. Part 1: Owned. It even “ended” with a high point for the romance. Part 2: Betrayed. Yeah, that doesn’t sound good, does it? This is the opposite. Everything is falling apart. Charlie is actually gone, completely off page. I know what he’s doing, but Ranay (and the reader, since it’s first person) doesn’t. I just brought the story to the end of that section.
Now all of the plot that’s been so carefully hinted at and laid down from the beginning is suddenly tightening into the real weave of the story. Part 3: Redeemed. This next part is suspense, dark, and probably violent. It’s also going to be gut wrenching because Ranay is alone.
She has to be alone to pull this off.
Part 2 is currently 28K, which is about where I was thinking. I allowed 30K but I think I need to go back and add a scene, so that was a pretty good guess.
Part 3 will be fast and furious, maybe shorter. We’ll see. I think I still need at least 20K to make everything happen and wrap up all the threads. Possibly as much as 30K but that’s pushing it.
I may not have enough story to hit 50K for NaNo, but that’s okay. I just want to finish the book!!
NaNoWriMo count as of this morning: 20,117
Snippet:
“What are you hard limits?”
“I don’t have any.” He arched a brow, so I rushed to clarify. “At least not that I’ve ever found.”
I’d lived as a full-time slave for a year and had a breakdown when I had to leave. How could I have any limit if I allowed myself to fall into such a black hole? Staring up into his eyes, I felt like I was tottering on the edge of an endless chasm. One step toward him and I would fall. Hard. People said they fell in love all the time, head over heels, like it was wonderful. Sunshine and bunnies and floaty hearts weren’t in my repertoire. When I fell, I crashed like a flaming meteor that wiped out an entire planet.
“Well, we’re going to start slowly. You have limits, whether you think so or not. And if you don’t…” He narrowed his eyes slightly but the full force of his determination rocked me back on my heels as he set me back on my feet. “Then I’ll help you develop and enforce them. You need to learn to protect yourself, especially from men like me.”