Making Headway

I guess I still have to get used to my little "experiment," because in my last post I forgot to include that day's progress. So, I'll do it now: Productivity--finishing a chapter, cutting, pasting and tweaking, for a total of about 2 pages. Not great, but I'm still trying to get into the rhythm of writing every day during the week (weekends are logistically more difficult, but I haven't completly ruled them out if I'm on a roll), so it was good enough for that day. And sending out my first two chapters to the members of my new critique group that day provided a sense of relief and accomplishment, with a bit of fear thrown in for good measure.

As for today, all day I was battling the kind of headache I can't stand (not that I like any headaches, but this kind, short of a migraine, is the worst for me), one that's a combination of sinus pressure and being tired, and usually the only thing that cures it is sleep. I toyed with the idea of lying down for a quick nap this afternoon, but I really wanted to work on my book, so I fought off the urge to close my eyes for a bit. The result? The headache receded, and I got to play "solve the puzzle" with my manuscript, moving things around and figuring out where things fit best. I still think it's better for me this way than to start from scratch with this story--my new analogy is that it's like going into a house in need of renovation, salvaging the good building materials and figuring out where you can use them rather than knocking down the whole thing. It's not as frustrating as I thought it might be, the result of making a later chapter the first chapter. In my previous draft, the scene I'm currently working on contained a character that had already been introduced about fifty pages prior to this scene, but now that character makes his entrance here. It makes things a bit complicated, but I actually enjoyed moving some things around, and the scene feels like it's making sense rather than just feeling adjusted to incorporate this character into it. It's slow going, but I feel like I have some traction right now, and that makes me happy...

Today's productivity--refining previously cut-and-pasted scene, some new writing to round it out, for a total of 3 full pages. I'm hoping to increase that amount on the days when I'm not doing full-out writing, but it's a start, and that works for me right now!