Day 191: Progress Update

This is crazy for me to think about, but I have just one chapter left on Oneiromancer's first draft. One! I was aiming for 30 chapters, but I've hit 34 now. I'll be able to finish it off in the next chapter. When I edit it, I may add a short 36th chapter to wrap everything up in a neat bow, but the real end of the story is in chapter 35. For so long I've known where I want to go, but have been travelling through a fog to get there. Now I see the destination right in front of me and it feels surreal. Just one chapter! And I know exactly what I want it to say. All I have to do is write it out.

I'd like to be able to capture this feeling a little earlier next time. Knowing exactly what to say is nice. Thing is, I can never plot more than a chapter ahead because sometimes I hit a roadblock in the moment and have to solve it in unexpected ways. That usually sends the plot careening off in new directions that I didn't see coming, making all the work I did to plot things out a waste of time. I moved away from plotting too far because of that problem, but maybe there's some way I could generalize enough to plot a little better. Until then I'll just have to stick to flying by the seat of my pants. I at least managed to get right up to the ending I always had envisioned, so that's a plus. No crazy deus ex machina endings this time. Unless ...

Oh my god, is that a meteor?!

Thank you for reading,

Benjamin Hawley