Friday, May 20, 2005
So, today I have to finally get to the line edits on "The Pearl Diver" (today being the deadline) and do a little fidgeting about with the prologue of Daughter of Hounds before proceeding to the task of finishing Chapter Four.
It's strange that I've been having so much difficulty with this book, because, as I told Poppy last time she was in town, this is probably the first time I've ever written a novel where I've actually found myself enjoying the act of writing. That's the characters, in part, and, in part, it's the story. I suspect the trouble has arisen not so much from Daughter of Hounds, but from external distractions, annoyances, family tragedy, and minor cataclysms. It hasn't been an easy winter. In truth, it was a perfectly awful winter. But now that it's over, I'm working better again. Things seem to be calming down around here. And I've dealt with the problem of scaling the novel back. It won't be 200K words, probably not even 150K. Maybe 130K. I'll know when I'm done. I've divided out the whole subplot about Sadie and her book and Dogtown and the Reverend William Wellcome, and maybe someday I'll write another novel devoted entirely to that story. Though Roc's request that the book stay under 150K was the result of purely monetary concerns, they have inadvertently forced me to devise what will be a better novel. Writing's weird like that. Sometimes you do the right thing for the wrong reasons, and you never know where the magic will come from, and all options should be considered, no matter how artless or practical might be the motives in back of them.
There are terrific storms coming, and the lights are flickering.
Last night, I made myself sit down and colour the last three colour monster doodles. They're all done now. Spooky read more of To Kill a Mockingbird to me while I coloured. This book feels like a friend I've neglected for a long time. I think we're going to read Shirley Jackson next, We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Anyway, since I took so frelling long to finish colouring these last three doodles, I may post images of them tomorrow.
This morning, I woke about an hour before Spooky, after many nightmares, and flipped through the ARC of To Charles Fort, With Love. I'm so pleased with this collection. My misgivings are very few and small. Anyway, now I should go write and edit and so on and so forth. Have a look at the eBay auctions, please and thank you.
11:38 AM
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