Monday, January 5, 2009

slo mo monday

at least that's how it feels. libby had a two hour delay this morning, so as soon as i heard the phone ring, i let Beloved answer it (the town sends out these recorded phone calls to notify parents at obscene and ungodly hours of the early morning) and went back to sleep.

my plan today is to clean my kitchen and my entry way (zones 2 and 1 for the FLY-people among my gentle readers) and to spend some time thinking about my middle. im starting to think that the easiest and best thing to do, since i seem to have hit a block in the story, is to simply go around it - in other words, create chapters that are simply placeholder chapters, eg:

Chapter 21

Evie and Lily go on tour of archaeological dig site, Sir Layton (Howard-Horner) reveals most of what's been found but hints there's an even bigger one he's only going to reveal at the press conference on saturday morning. At lunch, however, Evie is coopted into returning to Barrington with Charles' wife, who wants her help in planning how to seduce him once he returns from London the following day.

i know it's easier to revise once i reach the end. this is, after all, only a first draft, nothing's graven in stone and i can't expect to write the entire story in one fell sweep from beginning to seamless middle to end in one flawless run. well, maybe i can and since it's never happened like that any other time, i shouldn't be surprised it's happening now. and i know, that in those blocks, in the cracks and the chinks and the holes in the plot, are really opportunities, challenges, additional twists and threads that if i allow myself to delve into them, will only enrich the story.

i just have to let myself go there. so first to the shower, and then into the mine, where the tunnels feel narrow, dark, and claustrophobic!

and furthermore, the war must end. blessed be.

9 comments:

Laura Rose said...

we get those calls too...4:50a.m.!!! i don't see why we can't get the book all at once...perfectly...i don't think it's too much to ask!

Martha@A Sense of Humor is Essential said...

Art is hard work. Wow, I hope the story block becomes unjammed soon.

Debie Napoleon said...

Hi, congrats on the weight loss so far. I am just back from the gym and finally eating breakfast. I cannot believe how close you grew up to where I live. How cosmic is that - on a web world as big as this?

Kim said...

We get those calls too - but they come way after I've been up and started lunches (5:20 AM) but I hoped they would call when I saw the ice when I let Sammy out. I finished lunches and hit the treadmill. I'm making your pot roast for supper tonight. Mmmm - smells awesome.

Barely Domestic Mama said...

I've heard about those obscenely early phone calls. Hopefully I will be in Florida when my little one starts school that way I can avoid most of those calls since most big hurricanes seem to be during the summertime.

I hope you get over your block, but going around it sounds like a good idea to get around the block in the meantime.

Stacy Uncorked said...

We'll be getting those calls at ungodly hours, too...but since my daughter is in afternoon kindergarten, I leave the phone downstairs at night so I don't have to hear it at the early hour. Of course on the days my hubby has to go in really early, it's a moot point, we're already up. And since Mother Nature has only been taunting us so far this year, we haven't gotten any of those calls as of yet... :)

Good thinking to 'go around' your block...sometimes that works for me when I've got a block, like refocus your brain and the block magically dissolves... ;)

rose AKA Walk in the Woods - she/her said...

I have dog. No ungodly phone calls for me!

Watch your footing in that mine. :)

Nadya said...

I did some in Z 1 myself this AM - working on getting the counters clear (& washing dishes) & my youngest grand daughter had fun putting things in bags & putzing around before Play School. Fortunatly our snow has ended for a bit, & our district posts the info on-line the night before, rather than calling.
(not sure what computerless folk do - maybe it's on the radio, too!)
Congrads on winning the goodies the other day - & happy writing!

The Skinny B said...

thanks for the invite. I am supposed to go to watch my bro in law sing at flatbread but I am hoping to break away and come see you guys and share a cup of tea. Thanks for the invite. see you then. Bet