I had another pretty good day that resulted in just short of 2500 words.
I’m doing a lot of exploratory work at this point. I think I’m writing out of order to some degree, and that some of this is going to move out into later parts of the story—but I wrote them now because the powers that be gave them to me now. Who am I to argue?
Along the way today I got to thinking that, when this is through, I may need to go back and write a small prologue. I’ll make that a game-time decision, I suppose, but I can already kind of feel how it should sit on me, so I’m guess this idea is real. Regardless, though, the first chapter is in the bag, the second is started, and I know the beats for how it and the third chapter will hit.
I admit I still don’t know the big lever, the startling reveal that will kick us into the next gear. Assuming I get enough time today, I’m expecting to have the first three chapters pretty much “in stone” and that this big reveal will come tomorrow. Such is the life and fun of writing fully into the dark—your headlights only go so far.
I should note here that I’ll have some life issues to deal with today.
We moved here to Tucson to enjoy and be available for my parents as they age, which means I do a not inconsiderable amount of care-giving. Today, we go to one of several doctors they see. This takes time that, of course, I’m more than willing to give. It also takes emotional energy—which, too, I’m happy to give, but which is a drain that I find I need to openly acknowledge to myself. I say that because this emotional energy drain happens with an insidious silence and an insidious insistence that can bleed like a hangover over into other parts of the day.
Then there’s just the aspect of going about being a human. Today Lisa (the wife/copy editor) had an appointment and we got flu shots, and ran an office errand for her. I also doctored up mom and dad’s cat, and did some fiddling around with a fake baseball league I run in. I’m guessing the grocery is in my near-term future—and, of course there’s the cat to walk and dinner to cook, and then the cleanup. That may or may not seem like much, but the interruptions build and I know that if I don’t focus the day will while away before I know it.
That’s a thing when you don’t have a day-job cycle. Being unconstrained by time means I have to drive the day all by myself. It’s when I’m at the greatest danger of slipping.
But it’s also true that at this time of my life I need to find a balance between rabid productivity and taking life as it comes.
Looks like Lisa Silverthorne had a pretty solid Day 2, too!