(no subject)

Some of the lost things are now found. I have all my letterbox keys, for instance. In fact, only three missing items are still outstanding. I don't know why so many things hid themselves at once, nor why they should start appearing yesterday, but I'm very happy about it.

I'm celebrating by trying a radical experiment with a novel. If it works, I might need beta readers in a few days. Even if it doesn't work, I am learning a lot about how I structure novels and what patterns repeat in my writing and how to turn those patterns into strengths.

I ought to be doing wild amounts of other work right now, but one of the things this doctorate has gently delivered to me is the capacity to see aspects of the structure of my work I never could see before, and I want to consolidate this learning. If I can sort out this particular bit of education this week, then, when the current novel is returned to me with comments, I can then follow-up, and the two bits of effort will mean I know more about writing. Not the theory fo writing, but actually pulling something together at the bones level.

What I need now in my life is a writerly version of "Oh the neck bone's connected to the..."

(no subject)

Teaching grammar and syntax and punctuation is such a good thing. Today I'm reaping the non-financial rewards for those classes I gave. I'm analysing my own text and am able to see syntactical problems and grammatical fuzz and dubious punctuation far more clearly than I could a few months ago. I probably should make teaching these things a regular event, just for the good it does to my writing. I'm turning a whole lot of past narrative into simple past, and saving the complex tenses for where they will be most effective. The immediate effect is to pick up the pace. It's great!