On days when I’m in good health, I proceed with my quest to write the third book.
Sixty thousand words seem like a small amount to some, especially to those who had written epic-sized novels, yet in my realm of novellas (and, maybe, short novels) every word has a weight of ten, and must be used with a precision of a sniper. There are good reasons I keep it short: the costs of editing the big thing and the lack of energy required to work with a huge text. The latter, purely physical factor, played the key role in writing a 130k story in three parts, and not at once. Okay, it also felt like it should be in three parts, and not one piece of a monster novel.
So here I am with a brief outline for the third book, Perseverance. The outline is a list of events and outcomes from the events of the previous story parts. It is not set in stone, but it is a useful item to have.
I usually never go beyond the list-type thing, simply pantsing the rest. I have the first chapter (episode) and the last one already written. I can proceed with the rest now, hoping through my list of things to play with.
How far, how soon is the mountain summit–I have no idea. But I know well the story I want to tell. In the end it’s all that matters.
