12,000 Words

I’ve written 12,000 words of my Regency novel, and I’m gaining confidence that I might actually be able to get to the 70-90,000 word finish line. I’m pushing forward without a thought for authentic dialogue or historical accuracy because I can fix those later. Fortunately, I have people like Jaima Fixsen, one of my favorite Regency authors of all time (who I’m now honoured to call a friend). I’ll ask her help in catching any glaring problem before the book gets launched into the world.

Jaima, by the way, is the author of Fairchild, which you can purchase here. There is also the second in the series, Incognita, also available on Amazon. And if you sign up for her newsletter, you can get the third in the series – Courting Scandal – for free! Her website, and author newsletter, is found here.

So I’m writing fiction, and I’ve determined that the important thing is just to get the words out. It’s so much more fun to play around with words that are already on the page than to create them from scratch. One is like choosing from an assortment of chocolates. The other is like squeezing a rubber ball while the nurse searches for a vein.

I’m happy to have these 12,000 words because otherwise there’s been a dearth of words when it comes to expressing how I feel. I assume that it’s due to being completely off antidepressants for a few months now.

(As an aside, I’ve found that it doesn’t help when people say ‘Bravo’ regarding leaving off the antidepressants. I discussed the whys with my psychologist, and she helped me to see that it still carries judgement because no one would say ‘Bravo’ if you went off antibiotics. The choice to take or leave antidepressants is determined by the person and his or her doctor based on need, and is not open for commentary by the public at large).

Will you forgive me the lecture?