Halfway! And still almost nothing has happened!
Wow, reality is setting in. This novel will be longer than 50,000 words. That has never happened to me before. I've been writing about 2,000 words per day so I should hit 50,000 by August 24. That leaves me with a few extra days if I need to write more to get to the end.
I was going to take the day off today, but then just picked up the computer to write a few words, and ended up getting interested in it. Then I was so close to halfway that I had to finish. So here I sit, at 25,043 words. I'm thrilled! And also worried, and very glad that I skipped some of the buildup at the beginning so that I could move into the story. Because here I am, halfway there, and Seth is still at the 'am i interested or not' phase, rather than the 'rocky relationship' phase which, as you all know, has to take up the majority of a romantic comedy plot.
Today, Seth made it back to Oakland and had a long talk with her best friend Laura, who lives next door. I used my floor plans for Seth's apartment to create a long description - I felt I needed to after going to all the trouble of making it!
In this excerpt, Seth is telling Laura all about her trip but trying to avoid actually talking about Hagrid and Si.
Of course Laura wanted all the details of my trip. And I could supply her with plenty of details about the film set, how the scenes were shot, Crystal’s role as a Si’s character’s neighbor, and our success in giving a much more accurate and politicized portrayal of both the HIV/AIDS crisis and the crisis of homelessness for queer and trans youth, especially youth of color.
I was just patting myself on the back at how far we’d got into the conversation without me getting into my romantic highs and lows, when Laura interrupted a long story about the meals that were served on set.
“So, why were the cameras there? Was it because of Crystal? Do they already think she’s a star?”
“Maybe. They just sort of showed up today at LAX, and then they were at Oakland when we arrived. I couldn’t figure out why, but you must be right - our Crystal’s going to be famous!”
“Weren’t they asking about Si Greengage? You’ve barely said anything about him, anyway. I want details. You know he’s on my list of guys I’d go straight for. Those dreamy blue eyes…” She grinned and opened another beer. It was too late for me to start yawning and pretending exhaustion. “Wait. I can’t figure out any reason why they’d think Simon Greengage was with you, unless there’s something going on between him and Crystal. Tell me! Are they, you know, involved?” She made a rude gesture that I’d rather not describe in detail.
“Uh. No, Crystal and Si are friends, I guess. I really have no idea why the paps thought that Si would be coming to Oakland. Maybe when they saw him at LAX with us, they figured he was on our plane?” I stood up and started rummaging through cupboard, hoping to hide at least long enough to arrange my face into a noncommittal expression.
“I guess that makes sense. But why was he at LAX with you? Was he going somewhere? Come on, you know how much I love the guy. I want to hear all about him! A real life celebrity! Wait. Don’t forget you have to tell me more about Hagrid! I’ve loved him ever since his breakout role in Death Comes to Pemberley, the BBC version of course.”
The image is, of course, a shot of Hagrid from his breakout role in Death Comes to Pemberley.
I was going to take the day off today, but then just picked up the computer to write a few words, and ended up getting interested in it. Then I was so close to halfway that I had to finish. So here I sit, at 25,043 words. I'm thrilled! And also worried, and very glad that I skipped some of the buildup at the beginning so that I could move into the story. Because here I am, halfway there, and Seth is still at the 'am i interested or not' phase, rather than the 'rocky relationship' phase which, as you all know, has to take up the majority of a romantic comedy plot.
Today, Seth made it back to Oakland and had a long talk with her best friend Laura, who lives next door. I used my floor plans for Seth's apartment to create a long description - I felt I needed to after going to all the trouble of making it!
In this excerpt, Seth is telling Laura all about her trip but trying to avoid actually talking about Hagrid and Si.
Of course Laura wanted all the details of my trip. And I could supply her with plenty of details about the film set, how the scenes were shot, Crystal’s role as a Si’s character’s neighbor, and our success in giving a much more accurate and politicized portrayal of both the HIV/AIDS crisis and the crisis of homelessness for queer and trans youth, especially youth of color.
I was just patting myself on the back at how far we’d got into the conversation without me getting into my romantic highs and lows, when Laura interrupted a long story about the meals that were served on set.
“So, why were the cameras there? Was it because of Crystal? Do they already think she’s a star?”
“Maybe. They just sort of showed up today at LAX, and then they were at Oakland when we arrived. I couldn’t figure out why, but you must be right - our Crystal’s going to be famous!”
“Weren’t they asking about Si Greengage? You’ve barely said anything about him, anyway. I want details. You know he’s on my list of guys I’d go straight for. Those dreamy blue eyes…” She grinned and opened another beer. It was too late for me to start yawning and pretending exhaustion. “Wait. I can’t figure out any reason why they’d think Simon Greengage was with you, unless there’s something going on between him and Crystal. Tell me! Are they, you know, involved?” She made a rude gesture that I’d rather not describe in detail.
“Uh. No, Crystal and Si are friends, I guess. I really have no idea why the paps thought that Si would be coming to Oakland. Maybe when they saw him at LAX with us, they figured he was on our plane?” I stood up and started rummaging through cupboard, hoping to hide at least long enough to arrange my face into a noncommittal expression.
“I guess that makes sense. But why was he at LAX with you? Was he going somewhere? Come on, you know how much I love the guy. I want to hear all about him! A real life celebrity! Wait. Don’t forget you have to tell me more about Hagrid! I’ve loved him ever since his breakout role in Death Comes to Pemberley, the BBC version of course.”
This is my favourite line "Don’t forget you have to tell me more about Hagrid! I’ve loved him ever since his breakout role in Death Comes to Pemberley, the BBC version of course.”
ReplyDeleteI also really love how Seth is unable to use one her best loved ways of getting out of a conversation (to me it is one of her best loved) because she didn't have the foresight to pretend to be tired early enough.
Congratulations on reaching the halfway mark... and don't worry too much about going over, I think sometimes when things actually start to happen, it takes less words than when you are delaying making things happen, which is what we seem to be doing a lot of this year!
It was a great writing session yesterday, I am always amazed when you write such great stuff so quickly.
I hope we can fit in at least one more writing session before the month is over!