Thank the gods for outlines. I don’t often work with one, but in the project I’m currently working on it was required and now that I have one, I’m free to jump around from one section to another at random, as the mood strikes. For the past three days I’ve been averaging 1000 words a day—if I keep up that pace, I should have the first draft manuscript finished well ahead of schedule. I’ve written about 95% of Chapter 2 and about half of Chapter 9 to date. I’m not sure what I’ll do next. Perhaps Chapter 10, or maybe Chapter 1.
I didn’t think this morning was going to be a 1000-word sessions. Well into it I did a tally and found that I’d composed fewer than 375 words. However, I guess I kicked into gear, because by 6:30 I had reached the magic target. I am pleased. The further along I get, the less nervous I get about the schedule—but I don’t want to get cocky about it.
My favorite character on N.C.I.S. is McGee. Well, that’s probably not quite right—Gibbs rocks. But of the support staff, it’s McGee. I like it that he’s still trying to find his way out of probie status, and occasionally he’s given a chance to shine, like he did in this week’s episode. The plot was somewhat stale—I think I saw the same idea on Matlock 20 years ago—but they did a few different things with it and the resolution, while imperfect, wasn’t one anyone would argue with. I also like it that McGee has this alter-ego second life where he writes bestselling thrillers. I think they need to revisit that.
Lisbon has to be the least impressive commanding officer I’ve ever seen on a crime show. It’s like she has no real spine, like she’s sleepwalking through life. Or letting Jane step all over her. She seems to have a perpetual smirk on her face, as if she doesn’t take anything seriously. The gimmick with the key and the newspaper is so old that it wouldn’t even have made Matlock, and stagey in that it required the kind of lock and key you’d be hard pressed to find anywhere. And yet Jane manages to transcend these flaws and make the show worth watching. And the writers occasionally get it right by making the brother not the culprit and by not having an assassination attempt during the fur protest.
