The Human Division: Done!

Posted on October 23, 2012    Posted by      55 Comments

It was completed at 12:02 am, Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012. Two weeks late, unfortunately, but still done for all that.

The “word count” function in Microsoft Word tells me it is exactly 130,000 words long. I think that’s kind of cool (and also makes it the longest fiction book I have written, by about 16,000  words). I will soon ruin that nice round number by adding dedications and an afterword. Even so. It’s now officially done, and I am happy to see it full and complete.

I’ll have more to say later today, but for now? Bed time, man. I am going to sleep well.

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55 Comments on “The Human Division: Done!”

  21. Congratulations on your confabulations!

    One thing I like about your books is that they’re short enough to rip through in two or three sittings. Long books are fine, but yours are like short sweet deserts :)
    Besides, my to-read list is so long that’s it’s nice when an author keeps it lean.
    My stories range from a few thousand words to a quarter million, but I always set 256,000 as my absolute upper limit for a single story. Don’t want to turn into a Peter F. Hamilton or David Weber, enjoyable as both are to read. Some say size matters, but I say take pride in quality, not quantity!

  22. I will soon ruin that nice round number by adding dedications and an afterword.

    In my experience, opening it up in a different version of Word and re-running the word count would suffice to ruin that cool, round number.

    That being said, I look forward to reading all of those words.

  23. John, Do you have the planned publication date yet? It’s very cool that you wrote it, but when can we read it? Hardly can wait. :)

  25. but I always set 256,000 as my absolute upper limit for a single story

    A quarter of a million (or indeed 262144) I could understand, but I can’t quite see what possibilities that final extra thousand are opening up for you. Feetnotes?

  30. Congrats! This follows after the Last Colony, yes? I haven’t missed anything in the cycle (Old Man’s War, Ghost Brigades, The Last Colony)? Where do the Sagan Diaries fit in things?

  37. I’ve been waiting for this since you told me you were working on something new in the Old Mans War universe when I met you last October in Saarbrücken.

    Looking forward to read this one and cant wait for the release date.

  40. Congratulations! And way ahead of National Novel Writing Month, which you’re helping inspire me to give a try. I look forward to reading it.

  43. Congrats! My son and I are looking forward to reading it.

    @wizardru: The Sagan Diaries fits between Ghost Brigades and Last Colony.

  44. I’ll add to the general congratulatory vibe. And also to the “When’s it coming out so I can give you more money” vibe. I’ll eagerly and impatiently wait, I promise.

  47. @ Adrian Smith

    A quarter of a million (or indeed 262144) I could understand, but I can’t quite see what possibilities that final extra thousand are opening up for you. Feetnotes?

    I think base-eight and base-two numbers are rounder than base-ten round numbers, insofar as they’re less anthropomorphic (base-two anyway) and more symmetrical. Base four and sixteen are fun too (amino acids).

    Truth be told, though, I’ve only written five books over 200,000 words and only one that’s just over a quarter million. The quarter million word one is the bible for the series that contains all but one of my long-form novels to date, so it doesn’t really count as a story (I like to keep my set-pieces and other notes off stage so my stories remain internally consistent but don’t get cluttered with distracting exposition). I have outlines for another four novels of that order length, but no I idea when I’ll get to write them. Most of my stories are under 200,000 words, and most of those are under 100,000 words. My guesstimate would be that I’ve written less than three million words of fiction in the decade and a half since I took up the hobby, and that’s not spread evenly. When I was in college, I wrote up to 8,000 words a week, but nowadays between school, teaching and keeping up a house, I’m lucky if I get enough time to write a 3,000 words a week. I fucking love writing! I do not exaggerate when I say that it rivals making love.

    I’ve also since taken up composing and plan a cycle of symphonies for all my long-form works, which means I have too many hobbies and not enough time. But once I finish my PhD, I should have more time for my dubious art :)

  49. Congrats,

    Just finished “The Last Colony” last week, working my way through Haldeman’s “Forever War” this week, should be ready for “The Human Division” next week. :-)

  53. I do not exaggerate when I say that it rivals making love.

    And the chances of getting paid for it are presumably higher. Yeah, I figured (after I posted that) that it was probably writing in thousand-word blocks and then going to base 2 for structure/aesthetics. But that sounds like an impressive level of output. My own muse wants me to write software, but unfortunately I lack the skillz.

    Well done John, by the way! Just to be on topic for a change.

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