Week of August 1-7

[mrissa]

Five rejections, no acceptances. The rejections came in clumps: two on Monday, three today. I passed up 100K words on Sampo as I said I would. I feel able to keep going again.

I don't know why I don't get smarter about these things. I feel like I should have someone do a lovely script sign for above my desk, reading, "You do not write sequentially." Because I don't, and usually when I have myself in some kind of funk or dither, it's because I'm trying to push through the next scene in sequence. I don't have to do that. Why? Because I don't write sequentially. I can wander off and write the next shiny thing, because novels are long, and if I end up with The Three Scenes Of Infamy to write in my last few days of drafting a novel, oh well! It's not like it'll be worse than banging my head against a scenic wall when I'm not almost done with the book. Although it seems that 100 kilowords really is almost done with the book, or at least it ought to be. Much of the outline is finished. We're getting there. Slowly but surely. But slowly.

(The funky dither sounds like a horrible, horrible wedding reception dance. I don't have to do that, either.)

In other news, I am still sick, but getting noticeably better each day. I had real food last night for dinner and then again for lunch today. Real food with edges and all. Good thing, too: we had run out of applesauce, and mostly I want it for making applesauce raisin bars, which we just had, so I was not keen on the notion of buying another jar just yet. I had mini-naps twice today. If you needed further indication than my word that I was still sick, you've got it from the naps. Mrissas Don't Nap. Law of nature.

On Thursday morning, markgritter and I are going to Michigan to see seagrit and some other people who must not be important because they don't have livejournals. (It'll be his grandmother's 75th birthday party. We'll also get to see his parents, brother-in-law, aunts, uncles, cousins, and both grandfathers, plus maybe a brother or two. Don't know his brothers' plans.) We'll be home again Sunday afternoon, so with all the family stuff, I don't think we'll be able to try to see fairmer. Sorry, Mer! We'll have to wait less than a month for WorldCon to meet up in person.

Less than a month to WorldCon. Oh dear. Does that mean I should be doing something organized about planning?

It means I should be finishing this book, is what it means. (Why? Because then I can say I did. Obviously. V. important. Uh...yeah.) Onwards. With perhaps a nap on the way.

Comments

[merriehaskell.livejournal.com]

We'll have to wait less than a month for WorldCon to meet up in person.

True dat. :)

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

It's good to be able to move to some other scene if you can't write this one. It's good...so long as you don't end up, at the end of the project, with *all* the scenes you find hard to write stacked up waiting for you. I've made this mistake in a software project...once.

If what you can work on varies on different days, then it's perfect.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

What I can work on does indeed vary with the days. So does...mental fortitude, I guess I'd call it? Some days I can just hack through an awful bit and get something down on paper that I can improve later. Other days the awful bit makes me stare wide-eyed and freeze up. Still awful both days, just easier to deal with on one than on the other. And being almost done is a good motivator.