loaded_march | Entries tagged with part seven

66,000 words (rounded up) was a lot to re-read and review, but thankfully I had a second pair of eyes gleaning it over for mistakes. All mistakes are still mine, though, so yell at me if you spot any.

Part Seven: First Contact
Word Count: 66,000
Summary:
The Directory and The Dragon take charge of Excalibur to train them and shape them into a combat force that few others would dare go against.

Excalibur is ready for the NWO, but is the NWO ready for them?

Including this morning's word count, today had a robust output of 6,200 words, and I can't type anymore. I'm pretty sure my fingers will fall off at any moment now.

On the plus side, I have a title!

Nearly done, I promise!

Ok, an additional 1,100 words to chapter 13 of Still Untitled Part 7, and NOW I'm happy with it.

Moving on to 14...

So today's addition to the word count is a healthy 4,200 words, but there may be more words added later on during revision, because I'm not sure I am happy with chapter 13 of part 7 (and, yes, it's STILL frustratingly untitled).

But there is one more chapter to write. For sure. Depending on how that goes -- I may actually finish it! Or it will need another chapter. Maybe.

**headdesk**

I don't think Part 7 likes me very much at ALL.

To our left, in the red corner, weighing in at 5,100 words, standing 12 chapters tall...

Okay, that boxing metaphor didn't go anywhere. So, yes, today's round adds 5,100 words to the total, and the 12th chapter of Part 7 (still untitled! ARGH!) is complete.

Definitely won't be finished in the next chapter. Maybe by the 14th chapter?

I have added 4,800-and-change words to the total of Part 7 (still untitled, goddamn it!) of Loaded March, which brings the finished chapter count to 11 out of 12...

But if you haven't already guessed from the icon, it's not going to be an "out of 12" sort of thing. If I squint, I might squeeze everything into a Baker's Dozen, but at the rate things are going, it might work out more into 14 chapters.

I need a FFS icon.

Here we go: Today, I put down 4,700 words and completed "chapter" 10 of the still frustratingly untitled part 7 of Loaded March.

Right on. That officially means that I am 10 out of 10, and the silly thing is not finished.

I'm not sure what part annoys me the most -- the fact that I don't have a title for this part yet, or that I'm starting to think that extending it to 12 chapters was too conservative. Shoehorning in the next scene(s) in two more chapters... yeah, not going to work.

So we'll see.

I did the quick and messy math, though, mostly because someone mentioned having a NaNoWriMo by the time I finish this part, and, well... If you consider that every "chapter" is just over 4,000 words, and some of the chapters (like #10) is well over 4,000 words, I'm probably coming awfully close to cracking the 50,000 barrier.

Yikes.

Anyway.

My other fics are starting to pull at my shirtsleeve, wanting attention, so I think when I finish part seven, I will take a mini break from Loaded March to get a couple of scenes down for Drive and for Burn Albion -- I might even put together a bit of a teaser blurb for both, since one has been requested.

But first. Finish Part 7.

So I missed a couple of days on the metrics, but that doesn't mean I haven't been writing, and I promise that I've been working on Loaded March, and not on the plot bunnies that keep attacking me in random areas of the city. Including the brightly-lit mall among other people who should have kept me safe.

Anyway, that said -- I'd love to give you metrics in total word count, but I kind of fail at that right now (other than the 4,500 words I know I wrote today). Suffice it to say that I have just completed "chapter" 9 of 10... So that means, in theory, I only have one more chapter to go before I'm done, right?

Wrong.

It's turning into the untitled fic that won't die. I know how it should end, but the getting there is proving to be a long, arduous route fraught with random, fraying plot threads. Plot threads are apparently as evil as plot bunnies.

In any case, I am revising the total number of chapters to part 7 -- instead of 10, I am now hoping I will be done in 12.

So, today, I racked up 2,600 words on "chapter" 6 (finishing it off) and 2,000 words on "chapter" 7 of Part Seven (still untitled!) of Loaded March. I think I could've kept going, except I am not sure about the direction this chapter is going in, and I'll sleep on it and figure it out tomorrow.

It might be <em>fine</em>, and I'm just seeing things. Or maybe not. I hate it when I have the feeling that something might not be right.

So, yay! I'm back to Loaded March, having successfully evaded the plot bunnies that keep attacking me in dark alleys, on the off-trail path in the park, or while I'm taking a shortcut through my usual running route because it's pouring rain, and I'm not only already soaked to the bone, getting splashed by some asshole driving too close to the curb is not funny anymore.

I had to delete 500 words and start over in the right direction, and today's word count is a paltry 2,000-and-change. Sneaking in word count in fifteen minute spurts while at work like I usually do just didn't happen today for reasons of long meeting being long, urgent reports needing reporting, and coworkers requiring either a thorough stabbing, a violent clubbing, or their heads smashed together at supercollider speeds in the vain hope that the energy output would be sufficient to create enough firing neurons for measurable brainpower.

Now that I'm home, I've put in the word count, and am declaring myself cooked, because between the throbbing ankle (surprise! I hurt myself running again!), the blurring vision, and the vice that is being installed in the general vicinity of my head, tightening just so in an attempt to eliminate coherent function, the writing just isn't coming out anymore.

Or rather, it is coming out, but in five-word jogs, and finishing a paragraph is taking a geologic age. The Paleozoic, in case you were wondering which one.

We'll not talk about how long it took me to write this post.

More word count tomorrow, I promise.

Thing One:
I am officially on strike from Drive, the Crack Fic that hijacked my brain over the last three days and produced nearly 14,000 words on Sunday and Monday, and 4,500 words today. I have declared contractual breach of creative process due to infringement of nominal channels of output, and will be returning to Loaded March tomorrow, come Hell or high water. No offer put forward by the administrators of Drive, also known as the Crack Fic, will be reviewed for negotiations until Part Seven of Loaded March is completed and posted.

Be advised that there will be picketing on the premises and that there may be a delay before you are allowed to cross the picket line to conduct your regular business.

Thing Two:
Considering that I was once a continuity editor for a comic book company, I find it rather amusing that I made the mistake that I did in previously stating that Merlin's father, Balinor, died before Merlin was born, then later saying that Merlin and Hunith received notification that he was MIA (then KIA) before Merlin was six, which implies that Balinor was alive and well after Merlin was born.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that someone caught that error. It gave me the chance to go back and tweak two sentences in two different sections of Loaded March and not mess up the plot at all.

Although... I keep making cracks that I should set up a Loaded March wiki just to keep track of all the details. That might actually help. I do have a document with some facts, names, details, descriptions, etc. But interestingly, that detail about Balinor was not in that offline "help me keep track of things" document. The only problem: I have no experience with making a wiki -- does anyone have any?

Thing Three:
I swear I had a third thing, but it ran away.

So I realized I forgot to post the metrics for yesterday, so I'll do a weekend report:

Yesterday, I wrote 2,500 words to finish off the fifth section of Part 7 of Loaded March; that puts me at 50% completion if I'm going for a total of 10 sections (I'm not sure yet, it might be a tiny wee bit more than 10 sections). Overall word count is... I dunno, but each section tips the scales at 4,000 words and change.

Today, this morning, in the confusion of the time change, I wrote 700 words for the sixth section of Part 7 of Loaded March, then went to get groceries. By the time I got back, my brain had been kidnapped by Crack Fic, and I couldn't bear to get back to LM until I'd at least shaken off the worst of the Crack from my brain.

Well, it's 7,500 words later for the Crack Fic, which brings my total word count for the day at over 8,000, even if only a small fraction of it was for LM.

The Wall first -- and no, I'm not talking Pink Floyd (but does that date me, though?)

The Wall is the thing someone hits when they want to keep writing, because they know what has to happen next and have the scene clear in their heads, but are just too tired to keep going.

My Wall is a lovely thing of old-world red brick and crumbling mortar and one day I will run into it so hard that it will collapse right on top, but thankfully, the thing is holding pretty firm. It's also leaving me a bit beaten up and bloody, kind of like the time I literally did run into a brick wall. Incidentally, I don't recommend it. Everything goes black for an instant, and you wake up on your ass wondering what the hell just happened.

Anyway, I know what needs to be written next, I have the scene clear and crisp in my head, but I'm dropping off faster than a sugar junkie who's run out of Halloween candy, desperate enough to try sucking pebbles for energy (only, it doesn't work. I tried). I did do the smart thing and write out the rest of it in sketch/bullet-point form, so I won't lose it tomorrow when I get back to writing tomorrow.

Anyway, today's word count before the willy-nilly slapstick run into the Wall: 4,500-and-change.

I hoped to hit the 5,000 barrier, but, yeah, I am using up some of those extra 500 words to write this post instead.

Today's word count is a bit over 4,500, and I am hiding from Merlin and Arthur.

Apparently someone (*eyes narrow* you know who you are) wrote them a wonderful letter asking them to play nicely with me, so they have been clamoring for attention, which means I have two days of >4,000 word production, and for the love of God, can't you see that they are driving me insane with all the writing?!

Anyway, this means I have completed 4.5 out of (maybe) 10 sections for Part 7.

There is stil no title.

Because someone (*eyes narrow* you know who you are) ate my titles.

So, for today's metrics... wait, I'm getting ahead of myself!

If no one's noticed -- and I'm thinking maybe one or two of you might not have spotted it -- I tend to write in section blocks. How long those blocks are depends on the story -- it varies between 3,000 and 5,000 words.

That means for every part of Loaded March, I have 10 or 12 shorter documents, each one of them in an alternating point of view (usually Arthur's and Merlin's, with other people thrown in for good measure), that I combine into a master document before posting to AO3.

The only exception to this method was Intermission, which was written all in one, long, document, which meant that I was forever scrolling up trying to find another detail that I didn't want to overlook, instead of just opening the right document. It was annoying. It also made it difficult to predict how close I was to the end in terms of overall word count and percentage completion.

I'm back to the many-shorter-documents approach, which leads me to the metrics:

Today's word count: 5,000 (and change, but rounding down to the closest hundred)

This means that I'm also 2.5 documents out of an approximate 10 to a completed part.

Still no title. Why is there no title.

*shakes the Title jar*

Someone ate all the titles.

Alas, there was piddling word-count today for two reasons: I had to work (like every other day), but this time work was particularly vicious and vindictive and venomous, and it ate my brain and made it useless for the rest of the evening.

I did manage 2,000 words on Part 7 (still nameless), and they are 2,000 good words, especially since they include a scene that had me giggling for nearly an hour afterward just from the mental imagery.

Since 2,000 words is below my usual word count for the day, I'll appease the masses with a completely non-spoilery snippet of that funny scene (at least, I think it's funny).

( But in case you don't want to read any snippets, I've snuck it behind a cut )

Today's metrics tip the scale at just over 3,000 words, whereupon I had to stop because it was End Of Section and I need to start a new one, but instead, I will raid the kitchen for tomorrow's lunch and have a hot shower because I am freaking done with Fall and all the cold wet weather and want Winter to be here now, please, thank you, because I survive much better when the mercury is below -20C and it's blessedly dry!

Ahem. Sorry about that.

Carry on. Nothing to see here.

I survived the Halloween party, but am operating on less-than-three-hours-of-sleep fumes.

Now, theory suggests that having a long nap splayed out in bed, arm thrown over my head, shutting out the world, would have been a good idea, and I tried, I really did, but my brain would not turn off. Instead, it kept me awake with random scenes. Some for the next part of Loaded March, some for Burn Albion, some for yet another Merlin fic, and some for an original bit of fiction.

What do I do when I'm too tired to write but can't help but think about writing?

I watch movies, I plot out the next part of Loaded March, and I hunt-and-peck at the keyboard to get started.

I maintain that watching movies I haven't seen before is an inherently Bad Idea^TM, because now I have two new ideas: one for an AU that will send me straight to Hell, and one in a trope that I know has been done before, but that I can't help wanting to write anyway, because it involves zombies.

But anyway. Yes. About Loaded March...

I've started Part 7. Too early for a proper title yet, but I have something of the plot on paper.

And 1,000 words.

I'd say that's a good start.