Surprise

For several years I’ve been working on a novel, None of Them Knew the Color of the Sky. It consists of four parts, each told from the point of view of a different character. Despite writing a chapter or two a month, for several months I’ve been a perpetual six to seven chapters away from finishing Part II. There was a cliffhanger I was working towards, but I could only inch towards it. Well, about a week ago I sat down and figured out what I still needed to get to that cliffhanger, and was relieved to find I was only six chapters. So for the last few days I’ve been working on the first of those six chapters, but as I was finishing it up something felt wrong. I was writing an ending. I panicked trying to think of a way to jump start things again for those other five chapters before I could have the cliffhanger. But this point in the story is a natural ending. It just works for me to end Part II at that point. I’m halfway done with my novel. Holy shit!

Even better, I figured that after I finished Part II, I would need to take some time off to work out Part III. I know how Part III ends, but I didn’t really know how to start it. But now I can meld those five chapters and the cliffhanger into the beginning of Part III, and it works!

I’m almost bouncing in my chair. I’M HALFWAY DONE WITH MY NOVEL!