I've just started the last scene in 38, the intimate scene. There will still be a good amount of clean up. But at least the end of working on 36, 37, & 38 is in sight. The next chapter won't be a complete rewrite, but after that there is a lot of total rewriting until the final two chapters. There is a big lull in the rough draft coming up so I have an opportunity to do some plot cutting.

I keep worrying that I'm trying to stuff too much plot into too few words, but I don't know for sure if that's a bad thing or not. Things keep moving in the story. OTOH, now that I'm revising, I can almost see a three part story with the slight problem that the villain pretty much wins at the end of the second part.

I've been listening to a David Eddings book (my audiobook selections are limited to what I can check out from the library) and I'm somewhat amazed at how little has happened in the first three and a third hours.

Bwah!

I'm not kidding, it took two hours of listening before the orphan with a destiny got off the farm.

Well, you have to get an inkling of his destiny first.

It isn't bad, I'm just hyper critical since I'm all wrapped up in revising and critiquing at the moment. I think every fantasy book I've listened to starts off exactly the way every book on writing says you shouldn't. Slowly, with loads of narrative exposition.

Though, I think I read this like 20 years ago and don't remember any of it. And if that's the case, current advice on writing probably doesn't apply.

Wait, no there's one that didn't do that. GRR Martin did a nice job of having plenty happen right away while working in exposition in digestible chunks. That was before I was writing and didn't look at things so critically though.

That was before I was writing and didn't look at things so critically though.

I ended up with two copies of one of my favorite books, and I started editing it in a fit of o'er-weening pride. What fun to line through stuff and cackle.

Probably the thing I do most when listening and getting critical is say. "Oh, you didn't need that adverb", or "It didn't happen suddenly, it just happened."

I'm done with the 36, 37, & 38 rewrite. Now to clean them up and can get onward to 39 where I have a POV switch, another POV switch for 40. I'm at 87k words, I fear I'm going to go over my limit and I'll have to find a lot of words to cut, but we'll see.

On the positive side, 38 ended in a sex scene, or rather the start of a sex scene that fades into summary, and my wife didn't burst out in laughter while reading it. A good sign.

How long are your chapters? How many do you think you're going to end up with?

My chapters vary from about 1,000 words to 3,000 words, often predicated by when I hit a spot that seems like a good place to end a chapter and leave a hook or by a POV change. I expect to end up in the mid 50s.