FINALLY posted that chapter...

I have a WIP that I've been posting chapter by chapter on AO3. Originally it was going to be a few linked vignettes, but it spiraled out of control and is now 29 chapters and 43517 words long, which I think makes it novella-length. I think it's almost done--two or at most three chapters left to do. But I've been regretting not planning better, because it's formless and although I like most of the individual bits of it fine and have gotten a lot of compliments, I think overall it's a mess. An interesting mess, I hope, but still a mess. But then, it's about grief, which is messy. (43,500 words about grief. Why did I think that was a good idea?) All I know is, next time I will either a) have a coherent plan in advance, or b) not post it until it's actually finished.

Some of the best parts of it came about by accident. There are three epistolary chapters that I'm very proud of, but the reason I went to that format was that I had a character who had an accent I couldn't render, and the only way I could think of to get around that was to put everything in letters.

The chapter I just posted has been difficult to write, partly because it required a lot of research into the form of a specific religious service in a very specific time and place, and partly because it involved an emotional dilemma that is almost completely foreign to me. It feels really good to have it out there. Whew!

Obligatory link (don't feel obligated).