Lordy! Spent the day doing the scenes I've been circl...

Lordy! Spent the day doing the scenes I've been circling for weeks: the whole chase-fight-rescue-redemption that concludes the action of Mr. J Goes to Washington (working title). As sometimes happens, writing who does what to whom, in what order, why, and in what circumstances, has helped me enormously to focus on what is the primary relationship in the book: What is this book really about? Knowing that, I can now start the re-write knowing who of the sprawling Dickensian multitude needs to be portrayed in more detail, who needs to be played-down . And, what scenes need to be added - the equivalent of doing re-takes.

Writing a series is different than writing regular books. SOmeone once told me, "All the good stories are stories of redemption." In a series, it isn't always the central character who gets redeemed (which would get dull and repetetive, like wondering how come Miss Marple's friends ALWAYS drop dead). In a series, it's often one of the guest-stars who gets redeemed, or re-made: the hero just gets run through the wringer, which is his job.

Sometimes this isn't clear until I've nailed the armature in place.

So now I get to put the whole thing down and go teach 2 classes tomorrow... and then I'll be grading exams for a week, o joy.