By the end of March I will have my entire story arch completed. The initial motivating factor was a promise to my wife (hopefully most of you have heard of, instead of experienced for yourself, what happens when those are not met). At first I wanted to have my story wrapped up within 70,000 words. As soon as I looked at my finished outline, those dreams were smashed. I have a feeling (sinking or floating I have not decided) that my manuscript will be closer to 100,000 words if I want to do it true justice. I may be wrong, but that is my current feeling.
So far the process is a mixed bag for me. I enjoy being with the characters that I know. It is exhilarating to expand on secondary characters and tie off subplots. The process is slower than my initial mad dash to 50,000 words. I know more now, it can not be helped. It is a struggle to find the balance between pure, unadulterated creativity and that which shall remain nameless, grammatical accuracy. I know that the revisionary and editorial processes will handle “that”, but I find it harder to turn that part of my brain off. It is also slower because I find myself including much more sensory and setting detail, emotion, and internal dialogue.
One way or another it will get done.