Welcome to the final weekly update on the NaNoWriMo project for 2023! A Cage for Horrors was locked away in my mind for years and years, only expressed in my drawings. Now, it is time to see what the world actually looks like!
How did the past week go?
The past week consisted of two days: Friday and Saturday.
On Friday, I completed the final chapter of the story. I tied off the final threads that had been left hanging in the dramatic climax of the penultimate chapter, providing closing and making sure that everyone knows where we leave our heroes. Some characters may still be AWOL, but that is done on purpose. I didn’t manage the full 5000 words, only 4200, but for the final chapter… I think that is okay.
On Saturday I completed the Epilogue and told myself that I did a good job. That was worth it.
After that… I took some time for myself. My friends came over for roleplaying. I spent an evening gaming, instead of writing. There was some last-minute shopping for the holiday season…
Because I’m done!
I did a little better. As you can see below, the final position is about three times as high as the picture above suggests.
It’s been a good month. A heavy, but good month.
What happened in the story?
Like I said above, the story is tied off. The only thing that I left behind was a hook. A point to pick up. There is room for more story, for I imagined this story to span at least two books.
Final thoughts?
There is nothing more to do. The story had been completed in the way I had described it.
That doesn’t mean it was perfect. I noticed as I was writing the final chapters that there were a couple of plot points that had been left by the wayside. I put down some references in the end, but savvy readers will notice that there were points that apparently disappeared and suddenly reappeared by the end. There is no doubt that I want to rewrite this.
There were also a couple of chapters where Cadence, the main character, got in uncomfortable situations. She got immobilized and questioned, or hurt. Upon review, I realized that they gave a decided impression that she was being raped. There is no need for rape in my story to give it a sense of pressure and drama, so I need to rewrite those parts, as well.
I have already made notes. My next blog will detail how, and when, I will plan to pick this up!
Besides that, I feel my energy had definite low and high points. I had trouble getting into the story, which made the first four or five chapters difficult to write. After that I got on a roll and the chapters came easy and quickly. I even had time left in the evening!
The last week was a chore, though. Fatigue had decidedly set in and I was losing time. I didn’t get to the tempo that I wanted to, writing in spurts that more or less kept my on pace, but nothing more. The last chapter was especially difficult, taking a full evening.
I don’t think that putting it off would have helped at all. It would have just meant I wouldn’t finish the book.
But I did it! The story is written. Now… time for the next steps. Come back next week for that!
