I finished off this morning’s writing session at the 44,000 word mark of the novel in progress. The book continues to develop in my head each morning after I’m finished, which is always a good sign. A few mornings I’ve sat at my desk and wondered where the story was going, but I haven’t had a day yet where I’ve written less than 1000 words and some days when I’ve gone up to 15-1700, like this morning. I’m still not entirely sure where the novel’s arc is going to take me, but I think I understand where all the characters are headed. I’m just along for the ride. There is one section that I know I have to go back and renovate extensively, but that will be a job for later. Two sets of scenes need to be switched, and it’s not going to be neat surgery since the scenes leading up to one of them will have to be reworked as well. I hear my characters’ voices in my head, even Mr. Ruiz’s thick accent, the way he says “estabbéd” instead of stabbed.
I’m working my way through the prefatory matters in Children of Hurin, the recent Tolkien release. I think I’ve finally gotten to the end of that material so I can begin the actually story tonight. I’m also reading Comfortably Numb, the new biography of Pink Floyd by Mark Blake.
Big Brother is really intense this year. The shouting matches are relentless. I get a kick out of the guy from Boston’s accent. It took me a while to realize that what sounds like “Paco” is actually “Parker.” The disappearance of one of the players was mysterious, and the return of one of the evictees predictably turbulent. I don’t follow the live feeds, but I hear there’s a lot more hanky panky going on than the bathroom fling we were treated to last night.
I’m judging science fair on Friday night, something I’ve done for over fifteen years. I almost always end up with Jr. High chemistry. I prefer the younger students to the high school levels because the younger ones usually pick experiments that are derived from some problem they experience in their day to day lives. Why are/aren’t my jeans fading? What shampoo should I use to keep the color from fading? The seniors tend to pick projects that don’t interest them but look good on paper. The enthusiasm level of the younger kids can’t be beat. I enjoy talking with them every spring.
