My last hurrah is presently 65,000 words after 18 months. It might be ready for submission in 6 months or so, tho I wont be surprised if Laurel Ballbuster rejects it for its violence. Sam Peckinpaw would love it.
In a nutshell the Godfather marries Mary Poppins who becomes a a pain slut. The Godfather hires Clint Eastwood to keep an eye on Mary, and it all ends in a blood bath. But by the end the reader already endured a steady diet of car wrecks, beatings, shot gun murders, etc. Plus its as racist, homeopathic, and misogynistic as I can make it. I want it to offend you.
On 3 June 1864 Robert E. Lee put a few of these guns in his trenches where he had too few men to opposed Grants attacks. He aimed the guns down the trenches and fired at ther Union soldiers as they tried to get beyond the treches. Grant lost 10,000 men in 19 minutes.
About a month after Cold Harbor Grant dug amine under the Rebel line and exploded lotss powder. Then he sent lotsa black soldiers in to destroy the rebels, but there was no way outta the crater the explosion made. It became their grave.
Last night the answer hit me as I sampled performances of a music composition I like. A few are excellent, and most are mediocre. Its the same with stories; a few are excellent, and most are inferior. Its the sound they make in our head.