A Farrago: Updates, Reviews, and Doings.
I hope to cram in a number of items in today’s post. A mishmash of topics. A salmagundi, if you will.
Making Progress
The second draft of Captain is now complete. Mostly complete, that is. There remain a few blanks to be filled in, currently with such place holders as [Name.] I still need to finish the final polish of Boss in order to recall the names to fit in the blanks and to ensure that characters are consistent between Boss and Captain.
And in Other News
True, misfortunes may come not as single spies but in battalions. (Or something like that. I’m too lazy to look up the actual line from “Hamlet.”) On the other hand, good news can clump as well. I provided an update a couple of weeks ago on doings along the writing front. Now there is more.
Ahem! Announcements.
I played coy a bit ago, teasing some news. That’s because I don’t like to offer news only to later have to issue a retraction. Now it can be revealed. (Passive voice, ugh. But in context it does read better than “Now I can reveal it.”) Both parties signed the contract rendering this news legit. So, without further blather:
First Draft Contemplation and Commiseration
The way I figure it, I’m three-quarters through the first draft of Boss. If I can press on at the current rate, I should finish around March.
How do I feel about that? Glad to be on the downhill slope. I can’t actually see the finish line yet, but I know it’s approaching. On the other hand, I’m beset with the usual anxieties, self-doubt, and hyper-critical responses to a first draft. Is there enough conflict? Does it lack description? Is there sufficient characterization? Is it rife with cliché-ridden, lazy writing? Or is there instead too much experimental, self-indulgent phrasing? I alternate between thinking it is absolute shit and that it is actually pretty good for a first draft.