Drôle de guerre.

Drôle de guerre. That's what they called the time between peace and full-on war in 1939. That's what this is - the time before Kevin goes away for six months. Instead of the usual frenetic work, we're here listening to the metaphorical clock ticking as tomorrow afternoon approaches. Life as we know it has moved from planning to almost executing. Waiting.

This morning, when I opened the front door to take Whisky for his constitutional - surprise snow, falling in big flakes. Drifting.

Everything has been packed and re-packed. Everything has been washed - except the bed linen and towels. Monday is washing day, just like in the song, but this week it'll wait until Tuesday.

In Venlo, a flat awaits. 600-ish square feet apparently. Enough for one person to park their life away from home for six months.
Six months. A long time apart, but not long enough to pack up home, job, cabin-in-the-woods and follow with the small dog.

Standing by the water's edge.
Life in the margins.
Time will stretch and ping back.
With luck.

Done

...and in other ways, nearly done. I've finished my 50,000 words that I committed to, but the story itself isn't quite finished. Almost, but not quite. I'm happy to have spent this month exploring this future world. It was a great experience, and I have something to work on if I want, something to go back to and rewrite and reshape. It's been fun, it really has. I think that by the end of November, the story will be there.

New Directions

The story seems to have taken off in its own direction. I'm glad. I'm used to working with far more characters than I started with in this book, and now a few more have come along, it has been interesting to explore them.

There is just over a week left of November, and that means just a few more chapters to go - I've been writing a chapter a day, so things need to be solved and wrapped up. I'm pleased that I've been mostly able to stick to my schedule, it is quite absorbing, so other things have fallen by the wayside. Nice to have told this story though. I'm actually quite looking forward to the rewrites.

Pacing

The story seems to be propelling itself somewhat. I'm still meeting the daily targets, so unless it all stalls, I should get to the finishing post. Having said that, however, tomorrow I'm going to be out for most of the day, so this could mean a slight hiccup. We'll see. I'm enjoying watching the process. Watching myself writing. Weird.

Halfway

Today is halfway through November and I'm halfway there. I must admit that I spent time during October trying and failing to plan the storyline. So when November began, I had very little, but day by day the story itself seems to suggest ways it might go.

I think I've learnt a lot from this month. I've so far been able to be quite disciplined, and I've discovered how easy it is to get distracted.

I think my previous writing experience has allowed me not to get too bogged  down though. As I mentioned before, instead of going back and mentally wringing my hands because I can't remember how I phrased something, I know that it'll get picked up in the rewrites.

Losing the Plot

Not really, more ... losing track. I've had to invent things in the story and so, invent names for them and as I get further along the storyline, I lose track of what I've called it before. In real life, his isn't such a big deal - we all have several names for most things in the house, but in fiction, you have to make it clear and be consistent, so, for example, the vehicle based on bio-interface is called an S-cycle or a slicker, but the fabric computer that just sticks to the palm, well, that's been a whole bunch of things.

Then I have to remind myself it's just a first draft, and it can all be cleaned up later :)

The Eleventh Day

...but not the eleventh hour. Yesterday, novel writing didn't go so well because I was doing an article which ran long. I wrote, but not as much as I'd wanted to, also, the creative juices weren't flowing. It's weird the difference between the two types of writing and the ways one can influence the other.

With the article writing, you have to be flat, flat and dreary, no bounce at all. Third person, but no passive voice (and no 'one' either), and that's not easy. Adjectives and adverbs - out you go, subordinate clauses - goodbye! Oh, and no exclamation marks either, nor question marks, although the one yesterday had override instructions, so there was one question mark in there.

Today though, I've been able to really crack on with the novel. Great stuff. And it has been cold at last, cold, crisp and clear, frost on the ground this morning. Perfect.