The Mot Juste… 361 words, and 7201 total on Ohio 5

There’s the word.

There’s the right word.

And then, there are 361 right words that bring in a character for Book 5 that ties in tightly with what my main character just discovered about her grandmother’s secret activities, and how they affect her town… and her world.

Today did not go quickly. The words did not flow, and they did not fly.

They had to be chipped a few at a time out of the unyielding details behind what I knew I needed, and lots of them got tossed as I fought for the way to get this one very important scene right.

I managed to build the foundation for it, but the plot of this particular book depends on this particular scene. So I’ll come back at it Monday, fresh from a weekend away from words, and take another shot.

I have to walk away now, because Tom Vetter and James Husum and the guy who built a plugin we need are about to do critical website stuff, and I need to be there for that.

I got words, though. And the ones I kept were good ones.

OH… YEAH…

I had a revelation this morning. NONE of these Ohio Novels can be numbered. The series has to be “pick up and start from anywhere.”

And I spent some time figuring out what I’ll have to do in the revisions of all five books at once <shudder> to make that happen. I think I know how to do it with minimal fuss.

Just wish I’d written the first four as stand-alones from the beginning.

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Holly

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2 responses to “The Mot Juste… 361 words, and 7201 total on Ohio 5”

Mike Lucas

February 13, 2022

Not sure if it’s a good data point for you, but the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher are not numbered. I think this probably annoys 90% of his readers, who have to keep searching up which book is next in the series. (Since the story does build, and earlier events are mentioned, it’s definitely better to read in order and intended that way. That said, to some degree you can read them in any order, because in each book the current conflict is always resolved and some degree of status quo is reached.)

BUT having to search it up is not that big a deal, so I don’t think that little annoyance costs him any readers. So I could see that if there is an advantage to not having book numbers in terms of gaining new readers (?), this model could definitely work for you, while perhaps not having to change books 1-4 very much.

I’m not sure if this is relevant to your series, but something to consider anyway. 🙂

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1. Holly
  
  February 14, 2022
  
  I figure I’ll have them all linked in series order in the back of the book, with the caveat that there is no wrong place to start, and no wrong place to finish.
  
  But I won’t have numbers on the covers. That, by the time you get past five, starts feeling like homework.
  
  Reply

The Mot Juste… 361 words, and 7201 total on Ohio 5

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2 responses to “The Mot Juste… 361 words, and 7201 total on Ohio 5”

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