This might just be paranoia

but given the new people in the novel group on NB, I have been reviewing Moy Tura Echoes and have come to a scary conclusion. It might be too short!

I can't say for sure. (At the moment it certainly is but that's because I only have a first draft from long ago and scatty notes). But the chapters are short for me. The pace is pretty quick. Things are happening at the moment at a rate of knots (or nots, of naughts, not sure how to spell that). And and and...

Ok, it probably is paranoia. I can make it as long as I need to. I can go back and expand on earlier chapters. I can give more background, history etc. There is one thing people rarely mention when writing: that is, how daunting a novel can be. I've completed two (four if you count A Dream of the West as the trilogy it probably is). They never seemed as difficult as this one. Am I putting more into Moy Tura than I did into the others? Well A Dream of the West only took four years to get into a full draft (which I thought was ready - foolish me!) and The Penitent is just a weird book in that it flowed (much as To Regain Heaven appears to be doing - hope I don't jinx it by saying that). True, I have three major WIPs on the go right now, but I always wrote other things in tandem before. I think its a harder novel to write. But why? 

"Real life" setting - it can be hard to bring in that much reality without starting to fact-check constantly. 

The concepts involved - sometimes I think I have them all worked out, sometimes I reread and go either "huh?" or "did I write that?" and my favorite so far "how on earth did you ever think THAT would work?"

The characters - often refuse to do what they are told and come up with their own ideas - I am not kidding!  I can see why I portray them as belligerant, self-centred and just plain stubborn - THEY ARE!

Arrghhhghhghhh....  *pause for deep breath*

I need to take a step back again and look at the "overview" (there isn't one of course, but there are some scribbled notes somewhere. I have a plan, I tell you. I have a plan.)

Racing on with To Regain Heaven - into Chapter 4. Also a bit on the short side. I seem to be writing short chapters these days. But as long as the story wants to flow I will let it do so and worry about making it work later. 

Hmm, maybe that's what I need to do with Moy Tura as well. So frustrating.

R