I wrote 1500 words today. I manage a quick 1000 before dinner, and putting my daughter to bed. But then the next 500 are somehow so much harder.
This section of my novel deals with how in the aftermath of the 1905 Russian revolution, Europe was littered with a lot of Russian “bomb doctors’ . Many revolutionaries from colonies all over the world came to Europe to study or work, and several came with the express purpose of learning about guns and bombs. A lot of them fell in with the Anarchists. Russians with knowledge of explosives and firearms were in heavy demand, given they had often just been involved in organizing violent strikes and conflict with the Tsar’s army. But of course, plenty of conmen stepped in to fill the demand, too, and make a quick buck.
I’m liking how central Hem is becoming to this part of the novel. It feels like I need to dedicate a chapter or two in the first part of the novel to the perspective of characters other than Tatyarao. That way, it would set up some good conflict with him, and also offer others’ perspective of working with him, and shine light on his faults. He can’t be a Mary Sue, that makes him (and the novel) a bit boring.
And I find multiple chapters of my novel end up collapsing into one sometimes, and some planned chapters become redundant, and I like that. It shows I’m making quick progress and the story flows naturally.
But even so, I feel like I need to sit down with the plot for a couple of days and try to see how the plot seems to have changed. I’m not going to go back and change things, the plot has to keep moving forward for the first draft. But I can for sure influence how the plot is going. Maybe I can trim some loose ends, and since some characters are now making themselves well defined, I can make sure to enhance that.
Manuscript stands at 60,745 words so far. Hoping I can keep this pace up.