Book 21 update

I've been making progress on the writing of Book 21, although it's been less than I would like.

It's currently at 28K words, which is at least 2/3 done. It's been a difficult one to write, but part of that is the nature of the book, as I've mentioned before. However, once I figured out a couple of key concepts, the story flowed much better.

I have a LOT of notes for this one, and that may be part of the problem. It helps and hinders. It helps by being a resource but hinders by cementing ideas too much. Sometimes it's best to only have the basic idea synopsized and maybe a concept of the story style (flashbacks, linear AtoZ storytelling, etc.) and then figure out the specific scenes. However, having too many notes also helps in that I have a concept of the plot points to hit. In this, I also realized as I wrote that I didn't have everything I needed to keep it from ending up with major plot holes or continuity issues with the established canon.

I had one scene in particular that blocked me for probably two weeks. Fortunately, once I had an epiphany about an important idea in the story, the writing moved forward again.

In the process of figuring out these key points in writing Book 21, I was also trying to figure out the final four books timeline of events. Then, I had another epiphany that wrote itself into the narrative in Book 21, a summary of off-camera activities that would otherwise be boring conversations. That was the catalyst I needed! It gave me an exact timeline for the final events that have been building up through the series, in the way that I wanted. It gave me the logical reason I needed to make the final two books make sense for how things will happen. I love it!

I hope you're enjoying this as much as I am. I wouldn't write it if I didn't like it.

My goal is to finish the first draft of Book 21 by the end of January and publish Book 19 by early March 2025.

Thanks for reading!