Styles – Stephanie Hurt – Romance Author

Happy Thanksgiving week! It’s Monday, so forgive me if I ramble a bit. After a busy weekend, I need multiple cups of coffee just to get my eyes open. But, for now, let’s talk writing.

Do you have to do things in the right order? Well, it’s according to what you’re doing. You can’t bake a cake before you make the batter. You can’t ice a cake before you bake it.

With writing, you can write the ending before you write the beginning. How? For some writers, they have to get the last scene written in order to get a grip on the first three fourths.

I’ve posted several things on outlines and writing technique. And I’ve always said, put your ideas together, so that you know where you’re headed. Before you ask, yes, I’ve written the last scene of a book first. Of course, when I did, the ending changed slightly as the first parts were written and put in place.

Since I write in Scrivener, sometimes I go ahead and put in the Chapter heads that go with my outline first. That way I can write different scenes ahead of time. If I get stuck on a certain part, sometimes skipping ahead helps to beat writers block.

The goal of the post is to let you know, it’s alright to write your book in the wrong order. Just make sure that it fits together like a puzzle. The pieces need to fit, but not forced.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

words

Word count, the eternal question for a writer… I’ve been asked this question so many times that I’ve lost count. How do you know how many words your manuscript should be? How do you forecast it?

Words form themselves in a manuscript and if you’re a writer, you totally understand that statement. Now with preorders available on many book sites, the first thing they ask is what will be your word count, you have to ask yourself that very question. Do you know? Any round about figures?

Here’s how I figure the word count or where it should be by the time I type The End.

Well, as most of you know, I do an outline for almost all of my books. As I do the outline, each part of the outline is a chapter and each chapter should have an average of as little as 1200 words and as many as 2000 words. (That’s my figuring, not a science 😉 )

Then of course, when I finish the outline, I go back and figure up the chapters times the average chapter length. My outline helps me to make sure the story can go the length of the book. If I can only get to number 10, then it will be a fairly short novella, but if it can go the distance to around 20 or more, well, I have a good size book on my hands.

You may be asking how I know it will go the length I’ve figured, well, in outlining, each section should have a good position. Meaning you should be able to make at least a chapter out of that one section. If not, then it will be shorter than expected. When I do my outline, I think deeply over each section and make sure the story can carry enough gusto to finish the chapter.

So, how do you figure your word count? Ever figure too short or too long? It happens, but if it’s not published yet, don’t sweat it…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Don’t forget to go by and preorder “Seaside Blessings” at many ebook retailers. It’s available at several sites…