Somehow I missed writing about last week’s writing group. There were only four of us but it was a good group and I was productive again, finishing off the new chapter I have inserted after Chapter 2, cleverly called Chapter 2b for now.
This week I cleaned up some stuff near the end of the chapter to better align my intention for the chapter with the actual words. Having done that I next worked on some organization of the novel in two ways. The first was in Ulysses, where I moved the story into a manuscript folder underneath the main folder, then added a Notes folder also separate from the story. I find this easier than using Ulysses built-in notes function, at least on the MacBook Pro where screen real estate is more limited and you can’t have a bunch of windows open without reducing everything to “must have the eyesight of a 20-year-old.”
Having done this I next worked on hashing out some ideas on how to fix inconsistencies early in the story because even though I know it’s better to just forge ahead now and fix this stuff later, I’m the kind of person who hates the idea of leaving large-ish sections of the story in a state I think of as “wrong” and if I don’t go back to fix them now, they will serve as constant distraction.
Also, there is the possibility that in fixing these I may come up with other zany ideas that might work.
As for the group itself, there were six in total, though only four had confirmed, including several people I hadn’t seen before. I was early as usual but the previous group had cleared out, so I set up in my usual spot and began clacking away almost immediately.
The men’s washroom was out of order so I had to use the women’s. It’s pretty much the same, except it had a shelf holding a dangerous-looking (because it had the word DANGER on it) yellow plastic box labeled “BD Sharps Container.” It had a line on it that said not to fill it past that point. I could tell by the shapes pressed against the translucent casing that these sharp objects were needles. It looked to be nearly full.
One thought was “ew” over how many people apparently shoot up in these washrooms. The second was more about what a weird place to keep a box full of needles. Shouldn’t they be stored in the back out of reach of customers? Maybe customers are expected to safely dispose of their needles in the box, as civilized junkies would do. I don’t judge, I just ask questions.
Anyway, the writing session was a success once again. I am going to try to get more into a regular writing habit during the week but for some reason, it’s been even more difficult than usual this month, as the number of blog posts attests. Between having a billion things to do at work, health concerns, starting up with running again and other stuff, I have a lot on my mind and it’s been tricky to clear out the head space to just sit down and write.
Excuses, for sure, but there you have it.
