Changing Things...

Today was one of those days that didn't go quite as I'd planned. Not the "my-car-unexpectedly-overheated-so-I-spent-all-day-getting-towed-and-at-the-mechanic's" sort of day (though I have had those before), but just a dumb kind of "things-took-longer-than-I-thought" type day. I did add some blog links to my blog today--blogs I read on a fairly regular basis, so I hope other people will get some enjoyment out of them, too. After dinner, Mr. GJ was still working (from home today, which again provided another distraction--but I'm working to overcome his being home being a distraction), so I decided to go into the office and at least get a few sentences down.

Today's productivity--a bit of re-writing a section moved from another chapter, and a bit of new writing, for a total of two full pages.

Now, that may not seem like a lot, but considering I thought the day was already written off and I rarely write at night, I'm very happy with my output. I daresay (I don't think I've ever used that word!) that I'm--eek!--enjoying the revision right now. I don't usually like it, often feeling like I don't know if I'm actually improving my story with the changes I'm making, but right now I feel that although it can be messy and time-consuming and I have to fight internal mini-battles about taking certain things out, I'm making progress. Since it felt like autumn today, I'll use a Halloween analogy: getting deeper into my revision feels like carving a jack-o'lantern, in that I know it's going to take time, and when I'm up to my elbows in cold, goopy pumpkin innards it's hard to believe it'll be worth it, but there's something satisfying about really getting in there and changing the structure of the pumpkin. And in the end, I'll hopefully have something really cool.

I feel like I'm getting to know my characters better, some of the relationships are becoming more defined, and I've been able to play up the humor more. I'm not always a patient person--I want to lose weight now, I want our new baby plants to grow and bloom now--but right now I'm enjoying the process of working on my book. It's like taking the Road to Hana in Maui--sometimes it's not about the destination, it's about making the trip...