Coffee, tea & writing

I’ve had so much coffee and tea this week my back teeth are floating.

Not that I had much choice. I had no idea my first chapters were so incoherent but I guess that’s the result of relentlessly plowing full speed ahead (just write the damn book!) back in the fall.

Just like last week, revisions are still coming slowly, almost painfully, but the words are finally emerging. I need to submit 27 pages of sparkling, innovative intrigue (plus a one page summary) for the contest and as of last night, I finally hit 21 acceptable pages. Only 6 more to go!  Fire up the coffee pot one more time for the final stretch!

Obviously I’ve discovered this is all a lot more work than I expected but I really like what’s taking shape–especially since I ended up trashing the original prologue in favor of something more fitting. The first chapter got tossed, too. Alignment with the main plot and all that.

Oh, and I’ll probably rip up the third while I’m at it.  Yeah, the first chapters definitely needed some serious re-working. They remind me of when I first started to ride a bike–all wobbly until my muscles finally learned the necessary push and pull to make the bike fly.

And floating back teeth notwithstanding, I like what I’m seeing.

The dialogue is more sparkly, the tension higher, more hints of intrigue–everything is moving faster, more smoothly. I’m going to be proud to put my name to this submission.

But now, if you’ll excuse me, I gotta pee again.