X+Y=Deadlines

If I double majored, it would probably be in math and English. Provided, of course, that I didn't decide to head into basketball coaching, geography, nutrition, or numerous other interesting pursuits. But I'm a big lover of math, unusual, I think, for many wordsmiths. But I like math. I enjoy real-life problems that can be solved by math.

One of those problems is when my book will be finished. A few weeks ago, I basically discovered my average daily word count and my projected word total of The Girl With Violet Eyes and found that March 19 would see me finish. Today is March 19. I've written just over 1800 words today, and I intend to write many more. Math now tells me that my daily word count average is 1684.58, and that I will finish The Girl With Violet Eyes on April 4.

This is not cool. First, I've been in a competition with Ted Dekker (who doesn't know it) to beat his daily average word count, which is 2000. I mean, if you want to be more successful than someone, you need to work harder than them, right? So I thought I was doing good, until math came and slapped me in the face. Thank you math, for your ice-cold dose of reality. You're too kind.

Second, I wanted to be finished today, or at least this weekend. April 4? That's another two weeks, and there's not that much left of the book. I'm nearing the ending, and I'm finding that I may be closer to the ending than the outline shows. (No, I'm not ditching the outline again. Okay, maybe I am. Ouch.) I'm now beginning page 6 of my 6.3 pages of outlines. Is it really going to take me two weeks to finish that? Has it taken that long for all the other pages?

Math knows, I guess. You can't argue with it. That's what I like about it; no arguments, no disputes. There's your answer, in black and white. (Or, in my case, yellow and white. I'm writing on yellow notebook paper.) What the calculator says must be true. It's just so frustrating that the calculator is now projecting an 80 day project instead of a 45 day one, which it was in favor of two weeks ago. When you've started a story three months ago, I don't see how two weeks can double your projected project time. Math is brutal, and it's very unfair.

As I said, I'm considering ditching a bit of the outline. In both versions, the first draft and the outline, I've created a lovely, angst-ridden scenario on board the ship. Ivolet plays the hero, and Daniel plays the jerk. But that kiss while Daniel was captive (another straying from the outline) has changed everything, and I don't know if either of them can perform to the utmost in these roles. The only way to turn Ivolet's heart against him now is for him to declare that he's going to kill all of the Belayer (something I did in the the first draft and outline). But Daniel wouldn't do that; I have no motive, and it's not in his character.

I really would like it if I could think of something to make her mad at him, though. I mean, this was so much fun to write. It wrenched my heart in a most enjoyable fashion.

"“Did you?” Their words were that of playful banter, but Ivolet’s tone of voice begged for trouble. “Do you think you could still beat me?”

“I know I could.”

The man across from Ivolet immediately vacated his chair. “Gods go with you, General.”

Daniel looked down at Ivolet, who was smiling at him. No – he looked again. She was mocking him. When she winked at the rest of the crew, he was sure of it. Guarded, he sat down and let one of the sailors deal them a new hand.

Ivolet played the first card. She set it on the table with a loud snap, but her hand was shaking. “Your turn.”" - The Girl With Violet Eyes

"“I will not, and my rights are more than what you think.” He played, then looked at her. She was treading a fine line, arguing with him in front of his men, and he knew that she knew it. “These words will not take you where you want to be,” he said carefully. “This isn’t a game.”

            Her violet eyes looked straight into his as she said, “Then you can’t expect me to play fair.”" - The Girl With Violet Eyes

"He pressed his face closed hers, blocking her mouth from the view of his men, and said, through clenched teeth, “What are you trying to do?”

“Convince you to give up this scheme of killing and colonizing Evichburn,” she replied, just as tersely.

“You can’t. You’ll fail.” He took a breath. “There’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

Her next words were spoken so low that, for a moment, he wondered if she’d spoken them at all. “I know who killed Kaysar.”" - The Girl With Violet Eyes

Well, there's a nice bunch of my writing. I'm quite entranced by the little "quote" aspect of blogspot. It's very fun to use. I hope you enjoyed that; it's all from the first draft, which means I probably won't ever use it. Still techincally copyrighted, though, just in case you were wondering. I wrote it.

Now, don't you think that scenario deserves a place in the second draft? It's too lovely to give up, even if the writing could get better. I need to think. Maybe the dryer will be finished, and I can go fold clothes and think. Or, maybe, what made Ivolet angry had nothing to do with killing all the Belayer. Maybe it's because Daniel won't untie her hands or because he said she was beautiful. She's confused at that compliment, and for many it would translate into anger. (Or, at least it would in book-land. I...wouldn't know. The only compliment I've ever received from a guy was that I was the sweetest girl he knew. Which, although something that made my day, er, week, is not "beautiful," and all girls know that!) Anyway, I'll think on that. Ivolet doesn't have much a temper, but I'll see what I can do.

In other news, I am in the midst of my third or fourth reading of The King of Attolia. It's very strange how I came about that book. I read and loved it without knowing about its predecessors, The Thief and The Queen of Attolia. It made no sense to me, I admit, for there were so many characters and I was under the impression that the entire series was about Costis, which didn't make sense for as much attention was given to Eugenides. But I have been in ecstasy for the past few days, reading it, and today I discovered that in exactly one week, Megan Whalen Turner will be releasing a new book called A Conspiracy of Kings, that follows The King of Attolia. I'm super excited, even if it is more about Sophos, who I can barely remember. I still wish that The Thief had been titled The Thief of Eddis and that this new book had a title in keeping with The _____ of _____, but one can't have all good things in this world. It is enough that I should live in the day to look forward to a Megan Whalen Turner book, even if it is only for one week. For I had thought that I would only be able to read what had been published before I knew and loved her writing. Not so!