Mischa Fox

Now that I’m beginning to feel better, I spent a good portion of today structuring what I have so far for the sequel necromancy novel (still doesn’t have a name).

While I was recovering, I shortened SING THE BONES by 10,000 words (about 42 pages) by combining two sets of minor characters and removing a few scenes that could be placed in another novel (whether this gets published by as a sequel or in something else entirely).

Playing with the cut scenes today, I found that they did work better in the sequel, and not only did I save about half of what I cut, this brought me over 20,000 words written. (The preferred word count range for most horror is 80,000 to 90,000, depending on the subgenre). My estimate is that the skeleton of this new work is already just under 1/3 complete.

Instead of writing new scenes, I read what I had so far and moved the scenes around a few different ways to see what felt best. I felt pretty good with what I had so far, and once these pieces fell into place, I found myself able to begin filling in the missing plot points, fleshing it out into what started to clarify into a decent novel roadmap.

Using the average word count for my chapters, I estimated it to be just enough for a full novel, on the low end of the preferred length, which gives me a little wiggle room in case I get some fun ideas to add in (or surprise myself and change directions).

While I am feeling better, this took a lot of mental and emotional energy, so I will record my book reviews for the week tomorrow. I’ve got seven this time, and it will be my first attempt scheduling videos on TikTok or Instagram, which could have hilarious results!

Have a wonderful weekend!