Disruptions
Life comes at you fast. For everything else, there's unexpected commercial references.
Hi folks! If you’re new here, this is the 200 Word Novel, where I’m writing a book 200 words at a time, Monday through Friday. Each Friday I post the last week’s progress, raw and largely unedited, along with some reflections on the past week’s writing. If you’re here primarily to read the story, you can find the start of the novel here. If you’re mostly interested in the weekly introspection on writing (and occasional life update), you can find that down below.
“I mean, I’ve never seen… everyone’s heard stories about… okay I read about that in a Gwen Avery novel,” Tavi muttered.
Bria’s eyes hardened at the confession. “Those books are so trashy,” she scolded.
“I think they’re kinda hot,” Tavi shrugged.
Bria started to reply, but Tavi reached out and grabbed her hand again, his entire body a singular rigid muscle of tension. Before he could pull them away, a cold something nudged her hand.
Bria looked down, startled to see the dragonling nuzzling her. It recoiled slightly as she pulled away on reflex, but looked at her with large, curious eyes as her hand drifted back down towards its scaly nose. Bria felt the wet, warm bursts of air brush over her as it sniffed her with curiosity and interest.
The mouse and otter stood frozen in place as the little dragon continued its investigations. Despite her Bria noted its smooth scales, each limned with a delicate tinge of blue along the edge. Although each scale had appeared white, up close Bira could see that they shimmered with an iridescent quality, causing the creature to shimmer in the afternoon light.
Seemingly pleased with its sniffs, the drakeling sat down on its haunches and looked at Bria expectantly. Its mouth drooped open into a curious expression, and Bria noted its many sharp teeth.
“I… I think it’s hungry.”
“Hungry for meat.”
Bria let go of Tavi’s hand to reach back in her pack. “I think I might have some.”
“We’re made of meat,” Tavi hissed. The dragonling turned and looked at him as he spoke, and Tavi froze again.
Bria took advantage of its attention and pulled out a small brown paper parcel. As the dragonling turned back to her, she unwrapped it, revealing a small carp, and held it up gingerly to the dragonling. With a quick snap, the hatchling bit the fish in two, swallowing half in a few short chews. It then paused and blinked at Bria with curious eyes. Bria gave a small toss, and it caught the remainder, devouring it in a blink.
“Why in the world did you have a fish in your pouch?” Tavi asked.
“It… it was a surprise for you. Uh, for us. To cook tonight, in celebration of completing our last delivery.”
“You hate fish,” Tavi mused.
“You love fish,” Bria blushed.
For a moment, the only sound was the dragonling smacking its lips.
“Can we keep it?” Bria asked.
“No! Bria! What are you talking about!” Tavi yelled. The dragonling turned to regard him, cocking its head to one side.
“I was just kidding,” Bria mumbled.
“We obviously should try to return it to its mother,” Tavi said.
“Yes,” Bria agreed. “Obviously.”
“Otherwise, that’s how you get an angry elder dragon showing up and burning your city to the ground.”
“Is that your life or a Gwen Avery plot line?” Bria asked.
A Confession
You might have noticed this week’s update is a bit shorter than “200 words Monday through Friday.”
The truth is… I wrote these words last week.
And I haven’t written on the novel since last Wednesday.
Part one of the confession: I’ve been writing about a week ahead, and publishing content with about a week’s buffer. Doing so gave me the peace of mind that, if I had a disruptive week or a couple sick days or got warped into an alternate dimension for 48-120 hours, I’d still have progress to post.
But two things conspired to breach my little buffer: one planned, and one unexpected.
Last Thursday and Friday, I attended my cousin’s wedding. We had a great time—but being in a wedding party doesn’t leave much brain space for writing.
Then, this Monday, I got some exciting, unexpected news and an unexpectedly packed freelancing week, all of which has made me very busy with various creatively demanding tasks. (Apologies for the vagueness, but if/when I can share, I promise I’ll come back to update on this point!)
This marks the first time since starting this project that I’ve missed a full week of writing. (Oh, if the Duolingo owl could see me now, he’d shame me so hard for breaking my streak.)
On one hand, boo, bummer, blasphemy. But on the other… I’m currently 12,000+ words into my novel. And, it’s kind of only just getting started? And, I’m kind of more excited than ever to get back into it?
When I started this story, I thought it might fall into the uncanny valley of a novella length tale, 30-50k words to wrap things up. But it’s pretty clear to me that there’s a lot of story I want to tell. The characters are snapping more and more into focus, it’s getting harder and harder to stop myself from going hard into worldbuilding mode, and I’m eager to refocus on moving this along.
To the folks who message me regularly to talk about the story and share your theories and wishes and speculation on what happens next, thank you for always reading and always being so supportive. And to the folks who read but haven’t reached out, thank you as well.
With any luck, I’ll be caught back up by next Friday, and we’ll be on track to keep our steady pace on this adventure. 🐸🐭