Tuesday 17 April Progress Report (Previous Report)
The word count for this week tells the entire story of my work for today. I don’t understand what tempted me to write so much, but it felt good to get it all out. I think I got so caught up in the drama that I didn’t care about sticking to my plan. I see it as a good thing as opposed to a bad thing. I didn’t raise the bar for next week, but I did afford myself a lot of new material to build off of.
Crow started out as a Contemporary Noire (Noire is the feminine form of Noir) Mystery novel, though it was never meant to stay that way. There are still Noire elements to the story, though they are no longer at the forefront. The novel is taking on an action-thriller role with very subtle romantic subtext to it. In a rare turn of events for me, Crow will not rely on relationship drama as a focal point of the story arcs of characters.
The opening chapters of Crow are available by clicking on this handy dandy link: Crow – Chapter One & Chapter Two
Where My Word Count Should Be: 32,500 words
Where My Word Count Is: 35,126 words
- What I Did
Today I continued to tell the story from 2 weeks ago about what Ashley discovered in Sophia’s house. I managed to introduce a major plot point into the novel about how everything Ashley does from now on is conflicting to her.
On one hand, the organisation she is working to defeat is offering her lucrative deals to go against everything she cares about. To show that Crow Enterprises does not wish to harm Ashley, they offer Ashley anything she wants. Everything that Ashley could ever want in life, Crow Enterprises offers her.
On the other hand, Ashley’s country beginnings come in direct opposition to what Crow Enterprises will give her. The majority of the end of the current chapter is Ashley dealing with these emotions and trying to determine what she should do. Of course, it is with the words of her current client Isabelle that Ashley can see what she has in her life is more than enough.
The ending of the chapter also serves as the deconstruction of Ashley’s tough girl façade. No longer is she this gruff, hardened detective. She is a human like anyone else now and it is something new to her.
- Today’s Best Work
I chose the ending of the chapter as the best work for today, because it is the best work for today. I will say that it does start out with preachiness yet again, but a writer tends to let their own personal values pervade their novels. The first paragraph for today are my honest opinions on materialistic culture.
“I don’t think I could betray what I stood for in that situation. I know many people would, but that is the nature of humankind. There’s a lot of greed and selfishness out there. It’s rare to find someone like you, Ash. You’re honest, you’re loyal and you have integrity. I trust your decisions, even if I can’t agree with the principle behind them. In the end, you’ve been surviving by sticking to your morals for almost your entire life. You come from a background that values hard work over any form of currency. So, I guess I would never abandon my morals. Not for any amount of money.”
“You don’t know how happy that makes me,” I said with a smile. “I’ll be honest with you. Crow Enterprises did try to buy me off when I was looking for Sophia. They promised me the life they think I want. Hearing you now puts things into perspective. You’re right about one thing. I can’t abandon my morals. Not for anything. Not for… nothing.”
I cut myself off from saying what I wanted to say. I wanted to say love, but I forced myself to see the truth. No matter how much I tried, there was no way in the world Heather or Elise would ever love me for who I was. There was no way that I would ever love them either. For the first time in my life, I felt alone and scared. The thought of if I could ever love entered my mind and taunted me. I lowered my gaze to the ground, though I knew I had a faraway look dominating my corneas. Isabelle’s touch helped break me out of my funk a little bit, but it was not enough.
“Do you want to be alone?” Isabelle asked.
I shook my head. The last thing I wanted was to be on my own. While I looked like I could deal with it, the reality of the situation was that I was afraid of what would happen if I had no one near me. I hated the idea of isolation. I despised the mere suggestion that I would appreciate being alone. I needed people more than they realized. I needed people more than I realized.
“I want Lacey,” I mumbled.
Isabelle placed a gentle hand on my back and a few seconds passed before I heard Lacey’s feet crunch on the dried grass. Lacey did not have time to steady herself before I fell into her arms. It felt weird to let the tears flow, but it was something that was a long time coming. I cannot recall the last time I cried the way I did that night. Neither Isabelle nor Lacey left my side. The three of us fell asleep in a heap on the rickety bed as the dawn cracked the horizon. My last thought was of how I was going to destroy Crow Enterprises.
- How Productive I Felt I Was
I repeat: SEE THE WORD COUNT.
In all honesty, I still don’t know how I wrote so much. I’m running on less than six hours sleep for today but I’ve never felt more awake. It really puts things in perspective and I think that is why I wrote so much. I wrote to stave off tiredness. And it was not bad writing in the least. It was some of my best work to date for Crow.
- What I Intend To Write Next Week
Next week is a new chapter for Crow. While I have a little less than 2/3rds of the novel left to write, next chapter is where I plans things to really kick off. Ashley will begin her full investigation into the disappearance of Isabelle’s brother and Crow Enterprises will intensify their efforts to stop her. Crow’s future is looking bright and full of excitement at every turn. It brings me so much joy to see the future of such a unique novel.
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