EXHIBIT A. It’s rock solid. The worst work is over. It’ll...
EXHIBIT A. It’s rock solid. The worst work is over. It’ll float, run, and it won’t leak, but there’s still more to go.
C.E. Grundler
Some things seem to take waaaay longer than they should. Boat work, for one. (See Exhibit A., pictured above. ‘Nuf said.) And editing, especially with a work in progress that’s been derailed and restarted several times over now. (The book, not the…okay, the book AND the boat.) But when you’ve reached a point like this, where 90 percent of the worst is over, suddenly the momentum starts to build, and every day brings you closer to something solid and complete. And in both cases, things actually start to get fun as everything comes together.
Today’s agenda includes yet more work on the boat, and hours of keyboard time, hunting down the Backtracks. (Writing first, then boat. Always writing first.) Backtracks are what I call those bits of inspiration that weren’t in the original outline, weren’t even in the first draft and how could I not have seen it in the first place, if a certain character said “X” back in the third chapter, then that sends ripples to the second act, which shifts something else and…you get the idea. In the past, the moment one of those derailing little bits of sidetrack hit, I’d be finding the right spot to make the right adjustments, chapters back from where I’d been, and that’s a good way to spend time writing without really moving forward. The rule became: KEEP MOVING FORWARD, and ONLY FORWARD. Whatever page I’m on is where I stay. Period. No exceptions. I simply type <> and then continue on right where I was. Sort of like those bits of blue masking tape stuck at random points on the boat, flagging something I noticed while working on something else. I buy blue tape in economy packs, and you can usually tell where I’m working by the amount of blue tape visible — for example, the salon windows. Just stick the tape or type <> as applies and keep moving. It’s a great way of keeping focused and actually making headway in many aspects of life.
As for headway, on Tuesday, my daughter, her boyfriend, and my car all exited New Jersey on their national highway Great Loop. Here’s a snapshot of the general route, give or take. 
With the boyfriend’s sedan, it would have been half the trip in less space. My diesel Jetta easily gets double the range on the same fuel, and could hold a summer’s worth of clothes, cookware, tents, second hand donated camping gear, and so on, which meant double the trip on the same shoestring budget.
An hour after they pulled out, I officially wrapped up the second draft of Evacuation Route. Now, it’s just a matter of rounding up all those bits of tape little markers and making the appropriate changes. And before the kids drove off, they said they expected two things when they returned: a finished book to read, and a floating boat to read it on. Which means it’s back to work for me.
And my car? Currently, it’s at marker #2 and the center of a campsite somewhere in the woods of the Huron-Manistee National Forests, in north Michigan.
Share on Facebook
