Well, dear readers, I had a lovelier than lovely call from Muse Margaret, who’d read 104 of the 151 pages she got. It was a very different call from the first one, and I couldn’t have been happier. She said that in terms of the character in part one all the little changes made it seem like she’d read a whole new book, because she finally liked the character as much as she’d hoped to but hadn’t. So, that was great. She had about five little things that still bothered her, mostly just tiny word or half-sentence deletions, which I did while we were on the phone. So, she’ll finish the rest of part one today and hopefully call me. I’m hoping she likes the way I wrapped up part one. I also gave her the first page of part two.
Otherwise, yesterday was fine. I got a little over eight hours of sleep, then futzed and finessed doing the usual things, but nothing major. In fact, I was really pleased with it and I found it very touching. Then I printed it all out, got it Xeroxed and delivered it.
Then I came home and began writing new pages. It was very slow going at the start because I introduced a new character to the story and had to get everything set up, find her personality – I don’t plan these things much other than I knew that this character would arrive at this point. But I purposely did no notes about the character and just let my fingers take me wherever they took me. After a few false starts, lots of revising, I finally got two pages done that I was reasonably happy with.
Then I had two tuna sandwiches and then watched the new David Letterman thing on the Flix of Net. It’s a barebones show, no band, no set, just two chairs. His first guest was former President Obama and it was a very good interview, I thought. Next up is George Clooney.
Then it was back to writing. I did another four or five pages and hit on something I liked to propel me through the next few pages. I’d write, have a snack, had a telephonic call, write, relax, write – in the end I got thirteen pages done.
Then I took a shower and began to wonder if I’d made the right choice in terms of what this character does. I began to think of an alternate way of doing it that I might like better – it would require a lot of revising, but mostly just changing the thing the character is doing creatively. Then again, I may wake up this morning, read yesterday’s pages, and like them. If I don’t, then I’ll make the change. If I’m undecided, I’ll talk to Muse Margaret about it. I also made notes about what happens in the next few pages. I know what has to happen by the end, and I know a little about how to get there, but structurally and events-wise, I just play it by ear, because that’s how I get the best ideas.
Today, I’ll futz and finesse, I’ll write, I’ll eat, I’ll hope for some very necessary miraculous miracles pronto (do keep sending those most excellent vibes and xylophones), I’ll write, I’ll hopefully have a telephonic call with Muse Margaret, I’ll probably watch something, I’ll write, and then relax. I may have a little dinner meeting if the arrangements can be made, or I may try to do that later in the week.
The rest of the week is more of the same – lots of writing, a few meetings and meals, hopefully keeping my head above water, and then on Friday we ship both the Levi and Villa-Lobos CDs.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, futz and finesse, I must write, eat, write, hope for miraculous miracles, hopefully have a telephonic call with Muse Margaret, watch something, write, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: Who have been your favorite talk show hosts over the years? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had a positive and nice telephonic call.