Word Count Wednesday: Turning Points

Sonja met a man. Yep. He’s attractive and interesting and interested in Sonja. He is working as a ski instructor while he finishes writing his book. Sonja was able to finish out her first season running the coffee shop although it was at times a struggle. She closed Shirley’s Cuppa Joe for the winter. A lot of businesses in Door County do that. She accepted a winter position working in an established coffee bar in a ski town in Colorado.

I think it was smart of her to take the job. Maybe this way she will learn the business better. (I personally think she had a rather romantic notion of what owning her own business would look like.) Anyway, that’s where she met the man of her dreams.

I’m not a romance novelist, but I must say this guy swept her off her feet. They skied together, laughed together, and enjoyed late dinners at beautiful mountainside restaurants. One evening he took her on a romantic sleigh ride through the woods. He cares for her and has told her so. I’ve been around long enough to know that meeting “the man of your dreams” can be a turning point for any young woman looking for love. Sonja longs for what her parents have. She longs for a life like the one Shirley and Joe shared.

But does this man want the same things in life? Hmm…He does want something. He is kind and attentive. And when she returns to a nightmarish situation in Wisconsin he comes to her rescue.

Turning points are a part of life. We all have them. They are those people we meet, those situations we encounter, those choices and decisions that change the direction of our lives. Sometimes those turning points are exciting and wonderful. Sometimes we become frustrated with those points in our lives. We long for everything to go smoothly without any sort of strife or challenge. But turning points make life interesting.

I think turning points make novels interesting, too. When I was crafting my first book, Breathing on Her Own, I actually designed several turning points and plotted when I expected them to happen.

For example, I knew one of my characters was going to face a lawsuit. I knew that issue would be a turning point in my story. It would change the outlook of more than one character. I wanted it to happen around sixty thousand words into my story. I had turning points at twenty thousand words, thirty-five thousand words, and so forth. I planned it that way so I wouldn’t be tempted to belabor my story. I wanted to keep the story line moving. I don’t want my readers to get bored.

Now looking back, I am able to see those times when I reached a turning point in my own life and how God used it to help strengthen me or to move me in a different direction. Life is never boring. I wonder what Sonja will see when she looks back over these past few pages of her life…

But now for the inevitable question: Where am I now? How many words have I written? Well, I've had a fairly productive week. My word count is currently sitting at 35,221 words. That's quite a bit up from last week's posting of 28,234. It's a process. I wonder what will happen next?

By the way, last week I wrote about the Breakfast Cookies Sonja made. I had several requests for the recipe, I posted it on a special Friday edition of the blog as well as on Pinterest. Enjoy!