Monday, April 27, 2020

Last week of vacation?

I've got it down to a routine.

Wake and dress and check the news. Browse Quora over breakfast. Realize I am too ignorant of the world and too bad at writing to think I could write a novel -- and do it just as the post-breakfast lethargy hits.

Watch shows or play games until I can deal with it. Finally get some writing done before bed.

***

Finished Part II Friday night. The Highgate Cemetery scene turned out less involved than I thought it would be. I didn't even get to use any Karl Marx quotes. Then I speed-read the book to date.

The early chapters are a bit too tight and jumbled -- it relaxes more as it goes on. And I'm really going to have to go into that bag of tricks I've been lecturing about on Quora.

The last book was a very linear narrative, but this one is very "meanwhile, back at the ranch." Not only do I need to go back and put in better sign posts for the reader, I need to color-grade the scenes to bring out the contrasts. So at every moment, the reader should be reminded this is a Dalek Dig scene, or an Exploring London scene.

And I'm still tinkering on the breakdowns for Part III.

The paperwork says I need to hit at least 25K -- same length as Part II. The Scapple file had 17 boxes for Part II, which turned into 33 scenes (aka text separated by white space).


The Scapple file has only 15 boxes for Part III. Fortunately, I think they will be generally longer. On the other hand, two of the gray-green boxes above might be getting moved to the top of Part IV.

No, all of these are names for myself. The section names within the Scrivener file are; Nine Days Queen, Encounter at Trafalgar, Imperial Wars, Gasometers, In a Pig’s Ear, Field School Days, The King of Hobbies, Crossrail, The Red Poppies, Remembrance, Nine Elms, The Harp That Once, Sting, The Dalek Dig, About a Degree, Brixton, Platform  9-3/4, Kennington Loop, The Diary, The Guns of November, Losing It, High Noon in Highgate.

Probably not going to show in the final print.



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