I'm writing the scenes out of order and am working on the one where she finds her cousin's body

wbu?

Oooh. Fun. How far along do you think it is? 70k can be a lot, but it can also be very little in fantasy word counts lmao

I'm in the last 10k (probably) of a supernatural thriller with ghosts and reapers set in Baltimore.

I'm more than halfway and I'm actually almost to the climax. The issue is, however, I had been working on the cousin's PoV (he's the main character, not his cousin) without working on hers because I already had his story all figured out but there are still a lot of kinks left in hers.

so he's almost at the end of his story but I can't procrastinate writing hers anymore because they're about to merge so I don't know how many words it will end up being

But honestly, I like long novels and 70,000 doesn't seem like a lot for one. Plus, I'm not really sure like there's anything I can cut, it all moves the story forward, so hopefully it keeps the reader's attention the entire time

Oh yeah? What's the plot? I love supernatural stuff

Lmao, I know that struggle. I have a first draft scifi that needs complete revision because the secondary MC has his entire side to figure out and reconfigure the plot for....

That's also why I said 70k really isnt a lot for fantasy lmao. The average SFF word count is usually at least slightly higher than other genres.

Joey is a mechanic and one night, she's called go pick up her friend's car in the Baltimore body dumping ground, Gwynns Falls park. When she gets there, her friend is nowhere to be found. Upon inspecting his car back at the shop, a headless body is found in the trunk. Her friend is now missing and a murder suspect. While she tries to find him, sure of his innocence, she stumbles upon a ghost city underneath Baltimore. While she races against BPD to find what happened to her friend and prove his innocence, she's also exposed to the deeper secret of Baltimore: the supernatural forced behind Baltimore body count.

Oh dang, sounds intense and like a good story. So are these the types of ghosts that can interact with the physical world then, or are there other ways that they're killing people?

So... to answer the question, the ghosts/souls get a physical form when they drown so they technically aren't ghosts anymore when they re-enter the earth. Theyre... something else.

Yikes, that is terrifying

And really sad

That's actually not a bad idea

That's usually my approach for the start of a story. None of these characters we introduce live in a bubble. Technically, they have lives going on before we get a peek into their world, so the start of their story is just a peek into their lives right before a moment of change happens -- and what does that look like?

That's what's hard with this one - they *do* live in a bubble, in some sense.

Aaaand I want it set during World War I I just realized. Dang it.

It lends itself well to the theme of people being unable to laugh anymore and it gives a realistic reason for why the main character is able to run away to join the circus. It also explains why a circus exists to begin with. What sucks is that it's going to take tons of research and I know nothing about World War I (or II for that matter)

By live in a bubble, I mean they have lives before this moment happens

They don't just come into being exactly at this moment. And if they DID come into being exactly at this moment, what is it that created them exactly at this moment and thus, becomes a situation they wake up to

Researching sucking? That's what starts influencing all sorts of unconscious themes and decisions

_PINGME

@Book, OK, I will ping you at the start of the next 3 sprints.

_PINGME

@DisneyChick, OK, I will ping you at the start of the next 3 sprints.

True.
I just realized it's already influencing some of my storytelling decisions, which feels lazy but
Basically, I'm going to need to explain how these characters to the draft. I now have a teenage main character wondering if he shouldn't leave the circus to join the war

Lack of research feels lazy or knowing more about the circumstances feels lazy? Cause I don't understand the latter.

The latter. Idk why, it just feels like the story just comes naturally and I have to write a lot less if that happens

The past is already written

There's also already pre-existing politics and pre-existing world building constraints.

At the same time, getting them accurately is going to be tough

Wait a second

If Dr Gero, or Android 20 had a hat that said R&R on it, HOW THE FUCK did Yamcha not realize that those were the androids?

You weren't supposed to see that. <:Nervous_Monkey:797288817115267082>

_sprint

🍯🍯🍯 **JOIN THE SPRINT** 🍯🍯🍯
The next sprint runs for 15 minutes and will begin in 60 seconds. `_join 𝑛` to start with a word count of 𝑛, or just `_join`
@DisneyChick, @Evelyn S. 🇺🇸, @KirkpattieCake, @Book

_join 0

@KirkpattieCake, You have joined with 0 starting words.

👝👝👝 **THE SPRINT BEGINS: FIFTEEN MINUTES** 👝👝👝
Starting now! You have 15 minutes.
@KirkpattieCake

🐞🐞🐞 **TIME'S UP** 🐞🐞🐞
Please give your final word count. e.g. `_wc 150` You have 3 minutes.
@KirkpattieCake

_wc 681

@KirkpattieCake, Word count updated: 681 words