by Shelt Garner
@sheltgarner
I’m just about to leave the willfully delusional stage of developing and writing this novel and enter the “Holy Shit, now what” stage. I have to start thinking about different metrics than I have for the last few years. I have to start thinking about, well, among other things, the physical cost of printing the damn thing if I manage to miraculously sell it.
As such, I have to keep in mind that I could write The Bible, but if it’s too many words I probably am not going to successfully get a literary agent. I keep thinking about how The Girl On The Train is about 140,000 words and how I can probably meet that.
But this is my first novel and first novels are supposed to be closer to 100,000 words. Ugh.
What’s more, the murder that pushes us into the “special world” doesn’t happen until about 60 scenes in. In most murder mysteries the body is discovered either on the first page or serves as the “inciting incident.” All I can say is Stieg Larsson structured The Girl Who Played With Fire the way I’m doing this novel….so….lulz?
