Well, last week was something of a misfire. I had intended to get more work done last Monday, but instead wound up grilling burgers, sausages and chicken for the family. The rest of the week didn’t work out much better, as far as writing goes, although I already had a five hundred word start.

My goal with Chapter Five is to show how busy Little Jimmy’s days are, highlight the chasm between the employer and domestic classes, and set up threads for future events. This is where I’m at right now. Christopher and Bobby, whose ankle is in the process of recovering but is certainly fit for walking, have just started playing snooker. At the moment, I’m faced with their conversation needing to be steered onto a topic casually enough for it to be natural and for the important material to pass without immediate notice by the reader. I want the thread to be there, but not obvious – I can’t afford to drop hints everywhere, not even here on the blog.

After that I need to set the stage for another event that is currently slated for Chapter Nine. This one’s not such a secret, so it’s no spoiler to let you know that there’s going to be a dinner party thrown by Blackwater Manor.

Two different problems. For the first, I’m already there but need to be very careful how it plays out, for the second there’s no caution needed but I don’t have a complete plan for getting from here to there.

My plan is to break here and let the scenes gel out in my mind. Hopefully I’ll get back to it before Monday as I’d like to get onto the meat of the matter. That’s where all the hard work needs to be done.

Categories: The Old Man, Work Update