Pacing, it’s all about the pacing.

Day six and I’m feeling pretty good, averaging 2000 words/day, full of surprises of plot twists and turns.

Yes, I had notes and ideas to work from, but even so, right out of the gate on day one, these characters took off on a ride of their own. An attack on Vanessa in the parking lot? Really? What am I supposed to do with that? This book is supposed to be about Shawna.

Besides pacing, it’s also all about the words. Today I crossed the 12,000 mark, which feels pretty good. Yesterday, I thought I wasn’t going to hit the target. Surprise, I did. Today, I had the same sensation, but two hours later, I’d made it. Not sure how good the plot lines are, or if I’m filling in enough of the character background from book 1 without being unnecessarily repetitive, but it’s words on the screen and in the file. Today, I even stayed in one character’s point of view. Usually, I have to shift at least once to get enough juice. Today was all Shawna. Poor thing has had a few shockers already. Today was about Harley and Randy’s baby.

Tomorrow, I’ll shift to Alan, trying to figure out what went wrong – again. Is he really cut out for the dating life? Is he right to pursue a classmate? An older classmate at that?

Question about pacing again: If the writer feels the pacing is right in the creation, does that transfer to the reader? Or are they different things? I don’t have a clue. Feel free to leave a comment. Maybe you have clue.