I made up for that lack of work by writing two chapters yesterday. I feel better about that this morning than I did yesterday, believe me.
From my point of view as an author, I wonder a lot about the length of my books. At this stage, Silent Oath* is looking at being around 70,000 words. Locked Within* was longer than that by over 4,000 words when I completed the first draft. Of course it has lost a lot in editing so far. I'm very conscious that I don't want to pad out my books with chaff, but am I letting myself down by not using a more detailed author voice, or providing more plot points and challenges to my characters? Or should I just accept that my own writing style is relatively concise and straightforward?
As a reader, I find I get frustrated if I think the author is dragging a chapter out and not getting to the point. Of course, this could also just be from empathising so much with the characters that I want to find out what happens next, so therefore a mark of the book's quality. But on the other hand, I can feel a little cheated if I read a book too quickly. Like I've let myself down and spoiled it. I like a book to last a while, which may be why I read so infrequently. I keep asking myself, would I enjoy my own books if I knew nothing about them beforehand?
What about you? Would you rather a longer, drawn-out book that takes several sessions to read? Or would you still get the same satisfaction from a shorter novel, one which could be read in a day or two?
*Working title only
