A Good Midday

The tenth chapter is complete. In the end, I did a hell of a lot more with this chapter than I had initially envisioned. This has been happening here and there and I really love it when it does.
I'm going to work on something a little different for the next couple of weeks.

-Cary

One More Night

The tenth chapter needs one more night of work and it will be complete.


-Cary

Point Of No Return

In my experience, it is not uncommon for the reading of a good horror story to feel like the riding of a good roller coaster. Aside from the obvious metaphors of twists and turns and bumps and the rush of relief which comes with the end of the ride, what I'm talking about can best be explained using my perhaps romantically enhanced memory of The Great American Scream Machine at Six Flags Over Georgia. I was kid, let's say twelve years old, when I first rode this magnificent beast. It wasn't like the more wicked modern ones in that it didn't go upside down, the cars weren't comic book colors, there were no gimmicks or any shit like that, so I honestly wasn't expecting it to be particularly awesome, but I lined up for it because, you know, it was there. So I got into a car, lowered the rail, and waited for take off. The cars pulled out into the daylight. Okay, so far, so good. The tracks ran flat along the ground and circled a gigantic pond. About a quarter of the way around the pond, the tracks rose. This was the first and most important of the hills. The tracks rose steeply and the cars climbed for what felt like a very long time. About halfway up the hill, I started to think this ride wasn't going to be as tame as I had expected. At three quarters of the way up, I was terrified, but not really because we were still climbing and climbing meant we were going slowly. We weren't there yet. The bad shit hadn't started yet and as long as bad shit hasn't started, there's a chance that it won't start, right? Right? That's what I thought until we got to the top of the hill, the first car right at the top, and we stopped. We just fucking stopped moving. I hadn't noticed any of the trains before us stopping, but we had, right at the fucking top. I looked out over the giant pond and I wondered how close I was to the flight paths of low-flying planes. I don't know how long we were there, but I suspect it was close to a minute. I hated it. I wanted the ride to just fucking start and to stop the agonizing suspense. It was long moment, and then, in the split-second after the train resumed motion, I realized I had been wrong to want to the ride to start again. The suspense of not moving had been fine. I had been wrong to want to this because Jesus Christ we were all going to die. In that split-second after the train resumed motion, I realized that the bad shit had officially started. We had crossed the point of no return.
That, in short, is the way a lot of horror stories work.
Tonight, I worked on the tenth chapter, which is this novel's point of no return.


-Cary

Working

I'm still fixing up the tenth chapter. A lot of this chapter's needs are basic grunt work, but I put it off until now because I just didn't want to do it. A lot of the polish required by the chapter is also somewhat basic, but I put that off as well because I didn't really know what I wanted to do with the chapter. I had a broad idea, sure, and that's what I wrote, and I've just thought about it in the meantime. It has since become clear to me what purpose is served by the chapter and how to achieve that purpose. Like I said, it's not hard work, but there is a substantial amount of work to do. Two, maybe three more night.


-Cary

Tremendous

The ninth chapter is complete. I am surprised by how difficult polishing this chapter proved to be. It was short to begin with and I knocked it down to a much shorter chapter and still it took a lot of work to get it right. Which, I'm happy to say, I have done. It's tight, it's concise, and it's compelling. I was also able to work a much greater element of danger into it than I had previously envisioned.

I started working on the tenth chapter.


-Cary

Still Working

I'm still working on the ninth chapter. For such a short chapter, it is awfully important and therefore presents quite the unexpected challenge. Still, I think one more night and it should be a good thing.


-Cary

The Blood Of An Englishman

I was interrupted. My home was invaded by a raging band of miscreants. Katie and I were hosts to a couple of friends from northern California and a couple of friends from England. One of the miscreants from England is someone I knew from Twitter, but had never met in person. I had a great time with all of them, but that kind of thing isn't what this blog is for. I merely mean to explain my absence from here.

I am back, though, for a while. This evening, I accomplished much more than I had expected to upon starting work. The ninth chapter is in really good shape. I polished it into something I can use. So, maybe one more night with it, maybe two, and it will be done.
I also worked, just a bit, on another manuscript. This one hasn't gotten a lot of attention from me, so far, but I've been thinking about it from time to time and I wanted to check in and let it know I haven't forgotten.


-Cary

Down

The eighth chapter is done. As I've mentioned before, it was in pretty bad shape, but I feel really good about it now. I'm on to the ninth chapter and I know right from the start that it has to be expanded. I have some big things which need to be added to the chapter, but I'm not particularly intimidated by these things.


-Cary

Crap

That's what the eighth chapter was when I started working on it a night or two ago. It was crap. I admit that now. See? I have credibility. I have, I believe, taken that crap and turned it into something of value. One more night and I believe I will have a nice bit of entertainment to show for my efforts.


-Cary

That Was Easy

I expected the eighth chapter to be a bear. I was wrong. I just went through it, removed the bad parts, kept the good, and I should have it tightened down tomorrow night. Superb.


-Cary

Moving On

The seventh chapter is complete. I have begun work on the eighth chapter and I believe it is going to be a bear.


-Cary

Close

I polished the seventh chapter some more this evening. I truly believe I will complete the seventh chapter tomorrow evening. I also took a brief look at the eighth chapter. Man, the story is really hopping now. I like it.


-Cary