It was in February when I last posted progress about my latest novel. Am I any closer to completing it? I’m not sure. I’ve lost count of the number of times that I’ve rewritten it. I have tossed out huge chunks and rewritten it over and over and over. (I might be able to use those tossed parts in new novels. I’m so gullibly optimistic.)

The book is about 126,000 words now and there is still a lot to write. I kind of work out what my novels are about as I write them. That works fine when I’m writing short novels but not with big novels like this one. There were so many dead ends that I had to backtrack from and start over.

I wish I could give some definitive info here, but it’s all still up in the air. I’ve also never written a book this long so I really don’t know what I’m doing. I just have to figure it out as I go along. I hope that doesn’t make you feel bad like finding out that your surgeon really hadn’t gone to medical school or that your pilot has never flown before.

There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are. —W. Somerset Maugham

Don’t look at me. I don’t know what the three rules are either.

Rude FAQ

Come on, Kylie, just give us a date.

I don’t have any idea when I’ll be done. I wish I could. I totally want to finish this book.

When is the last time you worked on your book?

Uh, well, I’m taking a little break right now. I’ve made a new website. It’s faster.

Big deal. Just answer the question.

Okay, I last worked on my novel on Monday, September 7. It’s now Sunday, so it’s almost been a week.

You sound like a total slacker. Who takes a week off like that?

Sorry. I just am getting burned out maybe.

There are a ton of other people writing books like yours. Maybe I should just buy their books instead?

You’re kind of mean. Anyway, it’s not like you can only buy one person’s books.

I’m surprised you’re not using Covid-19 as an excuse.

Sorry to disappoint you. I’m not even mentioning Covid-19 in this book.

I bet in six months you’ll make a blog post about how you had to rewrite the book to incorporate Covid-19. So more delays.

That’s a good idea. I love excuses.

You love excuses? That’s a terrible thing for an author to say. Authors should try to be responsible.

I spend my time making stuff up. I guess that means that I’m not very dependable.

That’s for sure.

Thanks and bye.

Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash