ESTC Update — Final Countdown
I’m so worn out that I’m numb.
Current page count stands at 219; word count stands at 53,575. Everything except that final page in Chapter 2 exists. There are two prayers and one ritual that I may or may not write and include tomorrow, for the sake of completion.
I hate this part of writing, the part where I can’t keep on going and include all the wonderful things that I want to include. The line has to be drawn somewhere.
This is the point where I look at what I’ve got and think There, I’ve done it. But at the same time I’m a bit sad, because the actual tangible written product never fully resembles what I envisioned at the beginning of the process. And because I’m a perfectionist, as t! pointed out to me earlier today, I have a tendency to look for what’s not there as opposed to all the wonderful stuff that is there. I’m the creator of this particular piece: I see the masking tape, the wires that fly the actor across the stage, and not the magic that others will see in it.
Tomorrow morning, I’ll finish that section on rites of passage in Chapter 2. Then at noon, no later, I’ll start at the beginning of the MS and go through it line by line for omissions and notes to myself, places I’ve marked to smooth out, and bits I’ve marked as possible deletions. I’ll check the bibliography, and the appendices for all the right references.
And then it’s done. One more work day, and then it’s done.
I’m so very tired. But then, writing a book will do that.
Hats and Hallowe’en
November weather came early, and so Liam’s cunning hat came out of the closet!
Plus it’s Hallowe’en today, so he dressed in his pirate sweater, striped socks, and his PIRATE HAT!
ESTC Update
Well, that’s enough for today. The word count stands at 51,537 after adding and subtracting scads of words in different places, and the page count stands at 211. I think work hours clock in at around twelve, which is about twice as many as I usually work.
I’m going to have to go back at look at what I did with Chapter 8 tomorrow morning, because I can’t wrap my brain about where it was versus where it is now. There’s more, which is a good thing. I have no concept of how complete it is, or if the quality is up to my desired standard at the moment. And yet, after writing a bunch of new pages on various necessary subjects, I don’t seem to have crossed more than two things off my list of things to do in that chapter, which is mildly odd.
Also, there is a new ritual in Chapter 9.
Overall, there seem to be approximately four things left to do in Chapter 8 tomorrow, one of which is minor, one of which is expanding on something, two of which are from-the-ground-up. There needs to be another ritual in Chapter 9, possibly, although it may be left out if space doesn’t allow for it, and little finicky transitional things in both chapters that always take more time than they claim they will. Then it’s back to Chapter 2 to talk about the nature of rites of passage, that technical bit that I had to leave undone the other day because my brain was shutting down.
I think I’ve worked too late again. When I work too late, I can’t fall asleep for ages and ages because my brain needs time to shut down properly, and that in turn messes up my sleep pattern and yields nowhere near enough hours of sleep (I need around ten per night, usually). So I’m now going to go curl up in bed, drink a cup of warm milk with a drop or two of vanilla extract, listen to some Enya, and read a Brother Cadfael mystery — things that don’t ask my mind to do gymnastics to enjoy them.
Here We Go
And we go flying past 50K! And I’m only a little way into Chapter 8.
Onward and upward!
Her Head May Be Cold, But She’s A Hero
A huge congratulatory cheer goes out to Roo, who gathered $2137.73 in pledges for this year’s local Shave to Save campaign to raise money for the fight against breast cancer! She had her shoulder-length hair shaved live on radio this morning, and she sounded fabulous. I’ll bet money on the fact that she looks absolutely beautiful.
