Procrastination . . . I’ll get right on that!

Yes, I will confess, I am using this blog to procrastinate right now.  That hasn’t been true of every post so far, but it is true of this one.

I hit a sticky spot. Two of them, really.

I ignored the first one. “In the Dark” is kind of a two-parter. There’s one big climactic scene (don’t wanna spoil too much), and then the book goes on for another big finish. After the first big reveal, I have two chapters kind of “wrapping things up” before the next thing happens that pushes the story forward again. That seems awkward. But there is information revealed to the main character in both chapters that she needs later. So how do I mash that info together in one chapter? I’ve been over it and over it, and mashing it all together seems like a big fat “Hey! Reader! THIS INFO IS IMPORTANT!” Not natural. But the two-chapter finish drags. Grrrr. I edited the two chapters and set them aside to fret over later.

Now I’m on a chapter that just drags, period. I can’t simply cut it, because the jump into the next scene is waaaaaay too abrupt. So I’ve got to have something happen here, but it needs to be natural, interesting, and not fuck up the next scene. I think I have an idea — later on, I crammed too much information into one chapter, so I can probably cut that chapter in half and put half of that information in THIS chapter, but that seems like soooo much WORK. I can’t just cut, copy, paste, I have to carefully slice out the right info, change the scene and the characters’ actions to fit the other scene, write a lead-in that makes sense from where the characters are now, not where they are later when the scene I want to splice originally takes place . . . pout, whine, pout, whine.

I’ll do it, but I’m gonna make a face, there will be much pausing to gaze into the distance under the excuse “plotting”, and it will feel like I am slogging forward through eight feet of snow. Also, my bathroom might need to be cleaned right that moment, and I did just move my horse to a new property, I should probably check on him and that’ll take all day, and my laundry seriously might have to get done before I can finish the whole chapter splice.

So this is a good moment to pause and wonder about the marketability of a longer novel in the e-book world. Well, no, it’s a terrible moment, but I’ll do it anyway.

I don’t like novellas. Never have. I’ve read a few, will likely read a few more, but when I settle in with a book, I want it to take me DAYS to get through. And I’m a fast reader. 300 page minimum, please. But the e-book world seems to be full of very short books. So, do e-book readers WANT longer books? And if so, can I charge more for a work of fiction that is longer? How much more? And am I shooting myself in the foot writing longer works of fiction that will take me longer to produce? If I’m able to quit my day job (not counting on that happening right away), I could probably put out a novel-length book fully edited about once a year. It’ll take me longer  if I have to work part-time. I want to quit my day job and write books. If it takes me longer to write a new book, it will take me longer to build a fan base, and longer to be able to quit my day job. Grrr.

Of course, to me, it makes the most sense to get the damn thing edited, slap a nice cover on it and get the thing out there and THEN worry about how it’s doing.

Did I mention that I have a sticky chapter to get through?