I managed to peel myself away from work all weekend; thanks Open Salon commentators for the encouragement. Instead of work, I went to a meet-up of the Boulder Writers in which we discussed Time as an element in writing: time period, time passing, time dilation, time travel. (!) Then I went home to work on my novel, getting to chapter seventeen of nineteen of the first draft. It is good progress considering I began in January.
That said, in going back and reading the draft, I see that serious revisions are in order. Entire chapters are probably in need of disposal and replacement. There is an interesting pattern at work in which my protagonist needs to be nicer and the characters surrounding her need to be meaner. The cast, as they stand now, are just being too nice. I believe Barbara Kingsolver said the first draft is a work of construction and the seventh a work of art. It is a long road, but it's not Cormac McCarthy's road, so that's good.
Also in the long road department, Jon leaves tomorrow with some of his Groove Subaru Cycling Teammates for Silver City, New Mexico to race the Tour of the Gila. They will travel by bus, plane, and car in an all day trek to the southwestern reaches of New Mexico (or the northern reaches of Mexico, as the cultural difference of that region may imply). Lance Armstrong will be there, along with a Team Radio Shack contingent, to lay the smack down on the North American cycling scene.
So I will be holding down the fort for nearly a week while my husband rides his bike over 350 miles and 30,000 feet of climbing with some of the world's top cyclists. My legs hurt just thinking about that. Best of luck, Jon, and the rest of the Groove Subaru Cycling Team, may the force be with you! Updates here as I have them.
That said, in going back and reading the draft, I see that serious revisions are in order. Entire chapters are probably in need of disposal and replacement. There is an interesting pattern at work in which my protagonist needs to be nicer and the characters surrounding her need to be meaner. The cast, as they stand now, are just being too nice. I believe Barbara Kingsolver said the first draft is a work of construction and the seventh a work of art. It is a long road, but it's not Cormac McCarthy's road, so that's good.
Also in the long road department, Jon leaves tomorrow with some of his Groove Subaru Cycling Teammates for Silver City, New Mexico to race the Tour of the Gila. They will travel by bus, plane, and car in an all day trek to the southwestern reaches of New Mexico (or the northern reaches of Mexico, as the cultural difference of that region may imply). Lance Armstrong will be there, along with a Team Radio Shack contingent, to lay the smack down on the North American cycling scene.
So I will be holding down the fort for nearly a week while my husband rides his bike over 350 miles and 30,000 feet of climbing with some of the world's top cyclists. My legs hurt just thinking about that. Best of luck, Jon, and the rest of the Groove Subaru Cycling Team, may the force be with you! Updates here as I have them.
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