Back when I was posting updates about the progress on Quaking Soul, I referred to the manuscript as a monster that needed to be tamed. In hindsight, it wasn’t as huge of a monster as I believed. At least, not in comparison to its sequel. The sequel has some massive teeth!
The current manuscript weighs in at about 170K words. This is huge! Most novels are somewhere between 80-100K. Fantasy tends to have more leeway but most books are still somewhere around 125K or less. The outliers like the Wheel of Time books or Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive books are closer to 300-400K but those are epic fantasy and they cater to a specific audience.
Soooo, I’ve learned the truth behind the advice that, when you add more Points of View in a book, you automatically add more words. Quaking Soul is completely from Na’rina’s view point. I’ve come to realize I love remaining in one character’s head because I can sink into his or her way of thinking and the writing remains consistent.
The sequel is from three different Points of View. This seemed like a great idea. The world’s expanding and having more viewpoints allowed me to show things Na’rina would never see. But it also adds the complication of keeping things consistent between the different characters. Every single book teaches me something. This one’s teaching me a lot!
I have no idea how much I’ll be able to shave off the word count and still be able to have my characters fleshed out like I want, but the pruning knife is coming out and I’m preparing to sharpen it! It’s almost time to do battle! (In other words, I’ll be receiving feedback from my Alpha readers soon 😉.)
Blessings,
Jennifer
P.S. I finished the Zap Dragon beta edit yesterday and it is now in the professional editor’s hands! This next stage is slated to take a month. 🙂
So right about more character viewpoints adding more words! I know how tough it can be to find that balance between POVs and word count. Hope your editing on this sequel is going well! 🙂
Right! More POV’s makes it tricky. The editing is coming slowly but surely!
Or, just leave all the words😎
Lol 😂 I think most readers would give up on the rambliness 🤪
Yikes, that’s a lot of words to cut out! But I’m very excited about your expanding world, and can’t wait to find out which POVs you’ve selected. Good luck with pruning!
Thanks, Kat 🙂 I’m trying hard to keep Na’rina’s world from Quaking Soul consistent while at the same time adding to it. Hopefully it works! 🙂
This is so relatable! I’m also prone to large word counts and right now I have a couple of manuscripts I’m thinking about shaving down. Someday I’ll find the courage hehe. Good luck and your trimming!
It’s so easy to put all those words in! A lot harder to tighten them up but it does become easier after I let the manuscript rest for awhile. If I try to do it immediately after the initial writing, it’s super daunting! I’m sure you’ll do amazingly once you work up your courage 🙂
Just keep swimming!! 🙂
Swimming is good! 🙂
Cut, cut, cut!! Whew, lots of work!!!
Lots of work is right!! 😬🙂