Chumpty begins

Tonight I wrote the prologue to Chumpty Dumpty. As I said the other day, working on this project is going to be a ”whenever I’m up for it” sort of thing. This evening I was ready to work on it, but also a little nervous.

I’m always anxious when I start a book. I’ve written over a dozen novels so far and every time I start I wonder “do I have enough ideas?” I am a heavy outliner; I prefer meticulously detailing what will happen in each chapter, mostly because I’m nervous I will get stuck and the story will die.

Despite that, I still worry that I’ll write everything I outlined, check my word count for the chapter (which, I know you’re not supposed to do, but I do), and find I’m a thousand words short. In most books I try to shoot for a minimum of 2500 words per chapter. Some days, I finish a chapter and check the word count and rejoice when I see 3,000 words or even 3,500 words, because I know that’s a cushion for those times when a chapter is done after only 1,500 words.

Chumpty brings a different reason for stress. In this case, the story is already basically done, but it’s in screenplay format. The whole thing is only about 16,000 words. That’s barely six chapters of a normal book. A lot has to be added during the adaptation and I worried that I wouldn’t be able to find my voice for the story and that the book would die on the vine.

One thing I have to keep in mind is that this is a children’s story, which requires (necessitates, in fact) fewer words overall. Still, though, a lot needs to be added. I’m not shooting for a Little Golden Book (1,000 words on average). I’m shooting for Charlotte’s Web (31,000 words).

A few days ago I broke the screenplay up into what I expect will be the eighteen chapters (sixteen plus an epilogue and prologue) and, as mentioned, tonight I sat down to write the prologue. In the screenplay the section was only three-hundred words long. Actually it’s a bit too wordy for a screenplay, but it would be still be too short for a book. I sat down to write knowing I would need to flesh things out. Thankfully, the words came to me and in the book it ended up being almost a thousand words long, twice the length of my minimum goal. It was a sign that the book can be adapted and will be finished…eventually.

I am no longer nervous. Now I’m excited.