More Reporting

I have a deadline of early November for the next draft, and as you know I’ve been busy with the new house in my spare time. I still believe these weekly reflections are helpful for me; I lose something from not making the time to write them. But I think I’ve come to put too much pressure on myself to write something poignant and meaningful, which wasn’t the original intent behind these letters.

The original intent was this: to hold myself accountable for my practice. The meaning and insights were a byproduct. So I’m recommitting to these updates, and shifting back to more of a progress report format (even when I don’t make much progress). In other words: more reporting, less essaying.

This week, in House:

• We have plumbing! And the water’s turned on. No real fixtures yet as there are floors and walls that need to be installed before those can go in.
• The HVAC guys are now at work on all the ducting. I opted for two smaller furnaces for the forced-air system, one in the basement, another in the attic. On Friday the carpenter was putting in a pull-down staircase as there’s currently no easy access.
• The kitchen range got delivered early a week early after a mix-up (in my favor) with Lowe’s. The gas company requires an appliance on site to switch on service (found this out after a failed appointment). I’m calling today to set up a new appointment.

In Manuscript:

• There’s a ton of new material in the new draft so I set a goal of writing 1500 words a day this month. This would give me all of October to revise. I’ve only hit the daily goal a couple times since I started, but I’m averaging close to 1000, and I haven’t missed a day yet.
• I took a second look at the writing app Scrivener (partly out of procrastination and partly out of needing a better way to keep tabs on the new storylines). I’d tried using it for my very first novel but abandoned it because it felt like overkill, like going 15 mph in the city in a Land Cruiser. I spent a little more time with it this week and realized it’s just a case of poor defaults. I’ve hidden most of what I don’t need, and customized it to feel more like my preferred text-summoning app, iA Writer.  It feels a lot better now.