A Matter of Length

I'm kind of a particular person. Not all the time - I can let a little clutter fester, I can put something in the wrong place every now and then. Where that OCD gets me is with numbers, particularly when length comes into play. I've always had a thing about preferring songs to be over three minutes long, or for CDs to be around 42-45 minutes. I have no idea why. Maybe because there is nothing worse than really getting into a song for it to then suddenly end, depriving you of one more chorus or another wise lyric. I love the song Vincent O'Brien by M. Ward and have to listen to it twice in a row to feel like I heard a full song. Also ok, I just love something about that man's voice, and would play the song on repeat (and his CDs on repeat) no matter their length. And yes, I have issues with songs/CDs being too long as well. Call me Goldilocks.

If you're wondering why I'm talking about this, I have no idea. This page is completely white and it freaks me out. Also, this: I worry everything I've written and still have outlined to write will barely break the 200-215 page mark, which is kind of an issue because my OCD brain wants 300 pages. Sure, there are novels that are less than 300 that are great. The Perks of Being a Wallflower belongs in that category. And there are certainly books that carry on a little longer than I would've liked. But something about not reaching 300 is just...gross. I want a book that lasts awhile, that people can't say "Oh hey I read your book in an hour yesterday." I guess that's a compliment; they couldn't put the book down it was so good! But I don't care. I want something that lasts. Not that 300 pages is even very long. It probably could be read in a pretty short amount of time. And I have no idea how Word page counts translate to book sized page counts. I didn't say my particularities were logical.

But the great thing about writing is that you never know what's going to happen while you're doing it. Having a character say one random thing can change the trajectory of an entire scene, in a way you didn't even expect when you went to write it. It's always amazing when you manage to surprise yourself with what comes out, the person who supposedly has it all planned out.

And hey if I can reach 400...cool. Three hundred is just a bridge I want to cross; I have some wiggle room before things get too long (500, unless you're Harry Potter).