Novel Progress

I feel like I have been almost done with this beast, Lions Red and Gold, since about January 2018. That’s not true, but it’s felt that way. I wonder if a lot of writers feel “almost done” a lot more than is realistic? Looking at the progress on word counts, it appears the earliest that I could have reasonably said it was almost done was this July when I crossed the 90,000 word threshold. Less than that isn’t really a NOVEL, but more like a novella.

In a little more than a week, NaNoWriMo 2018 will be here. I am 100% certain this novel doesn’t need another 50,000 words. I have 110,000 good words down after cutting about 30 pages/15,000 words in September. They were good chapters, but not for this book. I’ll save them for another time when I write a Viking story.

The story is completely complete - no more little bits necessary - up until the battle of Fulford when Harald Hardrade invaded Northumbria in August. I don’t think I will actually cover that. I will cover the subsequent battle of Stamford Bridge because that’s germane to the battle of Hastings, which is the story’s climax.

The other thing I needed to decide was the disposition of the main characters. I had already decided that Imogene and Hyacinthe would be married. But the other two, the younger pair, I hadn’t really decided.

What I have decided is that Nesta likes Guy, but not in a romantic way. She feels like she owes him a debt of gratitude. The Archbishop is going to send him West to Wales. Nesta will escort him as far as the western border of Wessex. She still needs to gather her own forces to retake Northumbria but William isn’t turning northward quite yet. A recruiting trip through her old realm would be just the thing.

The book ends with Hyacinthe and Imogen being married, and a very short postscript.

All of this could be done in a week if I really rushed it, but I think I’ll do it over the course of the month.