Here We Go Again…

Okay, I know, I’m a day late again, only this time I think I have an awesome excuse!

Last night, when I’d set aside time to blog my progress, our eldest daughter was occupying the computer so I decided to continue with my read through.

Complete.

Well, I finished it!

Not only that, but I took a little time to quickly collate my thoughts on where I am and what I need to do. These notes might not make a whole lot of sense to you, but I’ll share them anyway because this blog is supposed to be about the process I’m going through, disorganized though it might be, and this is definitely part of the process. I’ll redact a few things to avoid spoiling the story.

1. Introduction Chapter [to write] – Set up key House characters.
   I wasn’t too happy that the key characters aren’t fleshed out as much as I’d like them to be. Also, this story is a dystopia and this is one place the world needs to show through – their histories.
2. The Butler needs to more evidently side with the Employer in the earlier chapters.
   This should tie in with his history too.
3. Break up the chapters with distinctly separate pieces of story into completely separate chapters, then name or title them.
   This story is laid out in chronological order, mostly because the plot isn’t too contrived, but that has resulted in some chapters covering parts of the story that have nothing to do with each other. It would make sense to break those up so that each chapter deals with something specific, which will make it easier to tune them in and make sure the right point is getting across. Also, although I was roughly titling the initial drafts I shared on the site, those titles were only for the site and never made it into the manuscript.
4. [I’m choosing to redact this note because it would be a spoiler for a plot twist.]
5. Establish [redacted]‘s sexual awareness either with a discussion with Little Jimmy or in a separate, new scene, early on.
6. Drop the coup.
   This is the awkward part of the thread I was considering removing completely. There’s no need for mention of it, I think it’s overly melodramatic and the thread could survive and work properly if this is written out completely.
7. The Closing Chapter [to write] should mirror the intro chapter, perhaps involving a letter.
8. Weave in how the world came about [and what the world actually is] through all chapters.
   This should be easy to do in places where I felt exposition and description were lacking.
9. Collate the first read through note sheets, trawl through the red ink on the manuscript and identify any thematic or holistic improvements that need to be implemented.

The Plan.

If you’re wondering whether I’m planning on taking time away from this project to let it marinate, ferment, mature, whatever, I’ve decided that since it seems difficult to discern ‘time spent on it‘ from ‘time spent away from it‘ that I shan’t take time away. In short, the progress I make when it’s actually on my list of things to do is for the most part indistinguishable from not working on it at all. So if I want to get it done, I need to keep up whatever pressure I can manage.

Other Things Considered.

Pompholyx Eczema

This is the first week since the third week of August when I had the four-day fast I alluded to that I’ve been remotely as near to compos mentis as I would consider normal. What with all the dietary experiments I’ve been undertaking, I would seem to have lost over 15 lb and now weigh barely any more than I did on completing basic training.

Weight loss isn’t my goal though. Control of my eczema is and so far things seem quite encouraging.  My hands don’t look like the picture any more.

Which is something else to celebrate isn’t it!

All I have to do now is find a way to ‘celebrate‘ on the autoimmune protocol diet…

…perhaps some broccoli soup…

Have a good week.

Categories: Diet, Eczema, Readthrough, The Old Man, Work Update