The good stuff was, I “completed” the outline for draft three of Let No Man Put Asunder. The air quotes are because I’ll definitely want to reread it and revise it before I start writing the next draft — do my initial decisions about what should happen where still feel right? Are there stretches where I’ve skipped over details or it sounds like the plot logic will fall apart? I’ve never had much success outlining but this one does feel like I can build a draft on it, and faster than usual. That would be nice.
(This medieval church arch was something I forgot to include in Tuesday’s Nasher Museum photos).
I may also want to go into more detail in some of my scenes or … well, we’ll see when I get to writing it. You’ll get some detailed discussion of the outline in one of next week’s posts. But regardless, getting a reasonably workable outline is a big step towards draft3 and I’m pleased to have it done, and only in a couple of days too. Though I’ve seen my outlines fall apart often enough that I’m not as enthused about D3 as I want to be. I’m confident that will change.
The bad? Once again, I got nibbled to death by ducks, so that was the week’s only writing accomplishment.
Monday was particularly duck-infested. Our neighbor was traveling until this evening, and discovered at the last minute her house/dog sitter would have to be out much of the day. I agreed to walk Kaya, her terrier/chihuahua mix. She’s a sweet girl and a walk 3:30 every day wasn’t too much trouble. Monday, though, the housesitter got delayed so I took out Kaya for morning walk. Then a couple of hours later I took Plush Dog in to the vet as he’s limping on his back left leg a little. The verdict: nothing serious, up his pain meds so he’s both comfortable and rests more this week.
Then home and about 45 minutes dealing with some IRS paperwork. Nothing catastrophic or urgent but I couldn’t get the answers off the website and due to those staff cuts under the Toddler couldn’t get answers on the phone. Frustrating, and another distraction from doing my own work (I did get through the following morning and I think we worked everything out). Then a distraction of my own making, cooking a curry for lunch. Then Kaya’s regular walk which proved longer than anticipated. All of that added up.
Plus the Discord for Become the Sky blew up with a shit-ton of messages as we move closer to finishing the manuscript. For me, wading through a lot of messages on Discord is like sensory overload. Trying to figure out what we were discussing and how much of it was new was distracting.
The rest of the week wasn’t as bad. However we do have to take Trixie out extra times to deal with her ongoing incontinence issues. Plus she’s getting up so early in the morning, I don’t have the 90 minutes or so I used to when it was just me and the cats. That was a restful way to start the morning; having Trixie with me as well makes it harder to get my head in the game.
Oh, well. Like they say, adapt or die, there is no other way. Wish me luck adapting.
For a final visual detail, here’s another exhibit from the Nasher. Not subtle, but I’m okay with that.
