The wheels just keep grinding

One of my good friends has been reading my novel-in-progress, which I just have to say is one of the more nervewracking things in my little universe. Letting someone read my unedited, unrevised work is like handing over a piece of my soul--especially to someone like this particular friend, whom I consider to be a relatively difficult person to please. The fact that he is still reading (ten chapters in!) means I must be doing something right, or else that he's getting to be a softie in his old age.

At any rate, this friend being the sarcastic, demanding person that he is, challenged (ordered, more like) me to finish my novel in three days' time. This was in an effort to keep ahead of him in his reading, so he wouldn't be left hanging when he caught up to where I'm at with the manuscript.

Fortunately, he hasn't quite caught me yet, though he will in the next few days because unfortunately, I did not finish my novel by tonight's deadline.

I did try, though perhaps not as hard as I might have. But I spend this entire evening writing away. I finished over a chapter and a half today, far more than my usual daily quota. And I am indeed getting close to the ending now. Tomorrow I shall write the section which was the earliest bit of this novel I ever imagined--a scene that came to me back in August, driving home from Melissa's sister's wedding. I tried to fit the scene into a different story that I started the next day, which didn't work, so I trashed the story. And now five months later, I am finally going to write this scene, and I'm just hoping I can do it justice. Five months is a long time for a discovery writer like me, five months of mulling on a single set of images, building an immense story around it until that image becomes almost insignificant when compared to everything that has come to pass because of it.

This evening, I passed 140,000 words. This behemoth is now 50k longer than anything I've ever written before, and it just keeps growing. And as it presently consumes about 90% of my brain power (the other 10% being eaten by the roadshow!) I'm hoping to finish it soon so that maybe I can regain a few other things to talk about in everyday conversations. :) Good night world! To bed go I.