Progress

This afternoon I’ve just passed the 20,000 word mark in my first draft of ‘Pitkirtly XIV’ – it now has an almost definite title but I had better not reveal it until it’s 100% definite. Originally it was supposed to have the word ‘witch’ somewhere in it, because I hope to release it round about Hallowe’en, but I was afraid that someone might mistake it for one of the supernatural mysteries that are quite popular at the moment.

I find it quite encouraging to keep track of the word count as I go along. When I write during NaNoWriMo in November or Camp NaNoWriMo at other times of the year, there’s a word count thing on the website that shows whether you’re due to hit your target or not, and that’s particularly useful, especially if you have a tendency to procrastinate, as I do. I’m hoping that aiming towards publication before a certain date will have a similar effect!

I always enjoy going back to Pitkirtly – the characters and settings are all there waiting for me, and I almost feel as if it’s a real place where I feel quite at home and don’t have to start making up new street names from scratch. On the other hand, I do have to try and remember character names and sometimes what people have done in past books in the series. I do have a list of characters somewhere, but it always turns out to be not quite comprehensive enough, in ways I don’t seem to be able to predict. Has Young Dave ever had a last name? Is El Presidente married? DId I ever have any idea of what part of America Maisie Sue came from?