Today's novel update

Wow! 12,135 words and I've only just got past the half-way stage. [Cue daft celebratory dance around my tiny study.] My initial expectation was 13,000 for the whole thing!

Since my last update, I've added a whole new section of the story - a back story - which has needed new characters I wasn't expecting. It's all kind of writing itself at the moment. Sometimes, you'll read interviews with authors who say that the characters come alive on the page, and dictate the direction of the story - and it's perfectly true. It does happen!

The current method of writing that I am using is: wait until the first line screams at you, then write. Simple. The subsequent writing may be just a page or it may be 1000 words. The waiting around part is a bit worrying - I should be writing, after all, and instead I end up cleaning - but then the sentence appears and I'm off.

As you've probably gathered, this is one of those waiting parts. I thought writing about it might help... well, it still might.

Anyway, here are some weird facts about my story. One character is in a coma (which is quite challenging to write about), one doesn't speak, and one is running around the world setting up a cult. Isn't humanity great??