To the green fields beyond

That was the dream that haunted both sides in Europe during WW1: to break through the enemy’s layered defenses and reach the open terrain beyond, where armies could maneuver and victory could be obtained.

Writing a novel is a great deal like that for me: the first 20,000 words flow freely as the setting and story arc foundations are set as the words flow fast, much like the heady first days in 1914.

But then comes the bitter days after 21,000 or so, where things seem set in stone, and a project stalls, our is advanced by just a paragraph or two a day as I struggle manfully to push the arcs through.

And then finally, after weeks or months of trying to balance plot and story
development against total word count needed, I reach a point, usually around 45,000 words, when I realize that I have come up with enough ideas and twists, and the words begin to flow.

By 50,000 it is 1500-2000 words a day, and the breath-through is unstoppable, and the only impediments are going back and inserting sections in earlier parts of the story to ensure continuity.

But so many projects are stalled in the trenches of the late 20ks and 30ks, brave and willing but lacking the strategic plan that will let them punch through to the green fields beyond…