I figured it was time for an update on my novel. I currently have 32% of it written. I'm a little bit behind my set schedule but I'm happy with my progress.
So far it's flowing pretty well. I was planning on writing from the perspective of two characters. However, doing the actual writing, I'm only finding the voice for one character. I wrote one scene from the other planned character so during the rewrite, I will either have to take out the second character or add numerous scenes from his perspective. Right now, I'm thinking I'll just write about the one character I've been working on.
I'm almost a third done with the 50,000 words but I'm still writing about the second plague. If all the other events in the novel take this many words to write, I'll have plenty of material through the end of November!
It's been interesting writing about the plagues and how God worked in Egypt. I really wonder how I would have lived during that time period, especially when there is no record of God communicating with His people after Joseph died. The Israelites were in Egypt for several hundred years before they were allowed to leave. Several generations would have been born and died since God communicated with Joseph through his dreams. That's not to say God was quiet during those years but we have no record of Him communicating with anyone until Moses was called to the burning bush.
2 comments:
How long was this book in your head before you started writing? I have one family worship curriculum and a Latin roots curriculum workbook in my head, but I have not had time to do more than write out an outline in a notebook.
Ann - Before November started, I outlined the entire Biblical story. I made a list of all the plagues, what Moses said to Pharaoh, what Pharaoh's response was, how long the plague lasted and who was affected, and what Pharaoh's last response was to Moses after he grew tired of the plague. I also jotted down a few notes of things people would have experienced during each plague - like with the Nile turning to blood, I made notes about the color of the water, the stink from the fish dying, how people would feel about their water source disappearing, their response to finding clear water by digging in the banks, etc. The detailed information was only filled out for the first four plagues but I had basic information for all the plagues.
As far as the characters were concerned... I had very little. I'm not writing much that involves Pharaoh and Moses because I don't want to conflict or add to the Biblical story. So most of my story thus far is people's reactions to the plagues and how they are living through them, plus the elders of Israel telling their families what Moses did in Pharaoh's court.
If you have detailed outlines for your workbook or the worship curriculum, the actual writing probably won't take that long. I'm writing a first draft and I'm allowing it to be rough because I can always come back and edit. The hardest part is to get started. If you set aside just a little bit of time each day and write as fast as you can, just to get that first draft out, you'd be surprised how quickly you can get it done. Then later you can take more time to edit it. Go for it!
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