I have found myself working on Jerry’s Novel in spurts. I always start by editing what he has, but then that leads to filling in what he’s missing.
After a busy night, I calculated how far I was, given how many words I had so far, and discovered I have about one 25% of a Young Adult novel, and 18% of an an Old Adult novel.
I find this remarkable, especially given that I haven’t hit my first plot point yet. I tell myself that’s because some of those pages are slated to be in later chapters, which is true.
Wouldn’t it be funny if I finished up and I had a confused mess with a plot that peaks too late and too harshly, with too many characters, just like Jerry did?
2 responses to “Rewriting the Novel: Percentages”
Is Jerry the protagonist in a book you are writing, or are you rewriting a novel first written by someone named Jerry? Clearly I have been remiss in keeping up here.
Allison – I streamlined the explanation to this: our father Jerry abandoned us, then my brother found him again at 21 when he also met our cousin. Fast forward 40 years, Jerry’s dead, and the cousin spots my brother (200 pounds heavier) in a store 500 miles away. The cousin says, “hey, I have a box of Jerry’s stuff,” and one thing in the box is a very rewritable novel.