Kiwi Writer Achievements

That is my final word count. IT IS FINISHED. And I feel bereft.

The very last lines of the story were: "I was still the only person on the platform when the train came. And when it left, there was no-one there at all."

In the last few thousand words I discovered two more killings which will need to be written in. There is still the question of the two characters who surface only in the final scenes to acknowledge their crucial role in the plot. Then there is the issue of the disappearing party. In fact, I made a list the other day, of some of the inconsistencies. Please note this isn't definitive - I've probably added a few more to it in the last day or so:

- Jack spends a large amount of time drinking whisky in public, while traveling by train across the USA. I did this as I have no idea what travelling by train in the 1920s was like, or what impression travelling across the continent would create. So I bottled out of it and made him get sloshed. Afterwards I recalled that Prohibition was in force.
- The fat, unlikeable sherrif informs Jack that his missing friend was murdered, rather than dying by accident. Jack reacts with shock and rage. In a subsequent scene, Jack seems to have forgotten this and reacts with shock and rage all over again.
- The alluring belle that accompanied Jack on the last leg of his cross-continental train journey simply drops out of the narrative after flirting with him and inviting him to a party.
- The party never takes place, even though it is refered to later on.
- Sitting in a house he has never been in before, Jack recalls a previous visit.
- For the final confrontation, Jack makes his way, unerringly, to a place he's never been to before.
- I have a character who is in two places at once.
- An another one: a suspect in the killing of Effie Randel has an alibi, as he is seen at a card game on the night of the killing. This meant he wouldn't have been able to be at the scene of the crime. Unfortunately for me, the killer was also at the same card game and is thus equally incapable of carrying out the killing.
- I have no idea who killed one of the victims. In fact, the poor fellow's murder has never been investigated. He's been completely forgotten.
- Crucial witness Wilt Fleming has been completely neglected for about 40K. He's sitting in jail for his own safety. Even though one of the kilelr's is a lawman, no-one has bothered to speak to him or try to harm him.
- Who were the third and fourth persons present at the killing of Rusty Mains?

Actually, the last couple of them have been sorted since I made the list - luckless Wilt is one of the two 'new' deaths I have to write in. And I even know who all three of the killers were (there weren't four, I decided at the last minute, inspite of what the witness said 50,000 words ago).

So, tommorrow, I get a day off. Then on Monday, I start on the next one.

Well done for finishing it!! That is a pretty funny list of inconsistencies, I always love reading that other people have them because I always end up with a couple myself!
Good luck for beginning the new one.

WIP: Dream Dark, Dream Deadly (short story)first draft finished at 6,167/6,000 estimated total.

J.C Hart

Wow, WELL DONE!!! Your last line sounds very intriguing and... ending-like. *doesn't have her words today*

Whew lurgee your brain must go overtime. It all sounds intriguing, I am a train nut too, and liked the ending. So the genre is Mystery/Murders?
Prohibition was in the 30's wasn't it? or did it start in the late 20's, he could have been on bootleg whiskey if that was the case.

Enjoy your wee rest and good luck on the next round. :)

http://gay_belle.livejournal.com

The Zing Thing: "The Makeover."

'Southern Scriber.'

The last scene takes place at a railway station. Jack is hoping his almost-love interest will appear, inspite of him having exposed her brother as a murder. He even has an imaginary dialoge with her. Poigniantly, even in this fantasy, he can't make her say anything other than how much she hates him.

Happy endings? Pah! Let the misery flow like the Mississippi in flood!

Congrats on finishing your novel Lurgee
:D
Good luck on your next one. Sticking with murder mysteries or trying something new??

"Art is never finished, only abandoned." - Leonardo Da Vinci

* Blinks in confusion *

You mean there is any other sort of book?

Yup, murder all the way. Though I am trying something new in that I'm trying to write something that might be [whisper] publishable.

Well, whatever you end up doing lurgee, you've already done a great job getting the eighty-nine-thousand, two-hundred-and-thirty-eighth word.

Wahoo!!!

Andrew Chilton - http://kapiti.geek.nz/

Congratulations! There's not much else you can say. :)

No Excuses. Just Write.

Hullo, Camp Mother is back. :)

http://gay_belle.livejournal.com

The Zing Thing: "The Makeover."

'Southern Scriber.'