Dear friends,

November already. My God! How are you doing? Are you, too, being flooded with videos set to Gordon Lightfoot’s “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”?

Maybe we have different algorithms. But I’m doing well, and I like the song, so can’t complain. Just finished the first stage of this edit, by which I mean going through the draft on paper, adding in my agent’s comments, then going through & writing my own notes on how to break those into bite-sized pieces. Not writing new material, necessarily, but writing enough notes that I can pick it up again seamlessly when editing from my laptop.

I’ve been experimenting with writing on paper as much as I can, despite the apparent inefficiencies, because “writing more often & more happily on paper” so far beats “getting home from looking at a screen for work all day & continuing to look at a screen all evening — gee, I wonder why I’m getting so many headaches.”

I’ve also found working by hand useful for shaking my brain loose. I’m not sure if this is a universal experience, since most of the editing advice I’ve seen is focused on draft two or three rather than draft twelve. But when staring despairingly at a Word document, it sometimes feels like I must find a way to insert this scene in such a way that it neatly slots into the previously-written paragraphs. Scribbling over the words on paper, it’s harder to be precious about it & easier to think through how the scene could & should go. Less narrative Jenga, more fun.

It remains to be seen if the good feelings last now that I have to switch to a laptop, but I’m feeling good about finishing this draft before the end of the year. Here’s a satisfying picture of the big pile of paper and sticky notes.

See you on the other side of this ~375-page document. In the meantime, here are a few things I’ve enjoyed lately:

• music that always pulls me into this world & these characters: “resurrections” (celeste, lena raine), “interstellar blues” (radio quiet, griffin mcelroy), “lucretia (reprise)” (journey’s end, griffin mcelroy).

• watching: The YouTube channel From Carly B. She’s an Australian sewist with a rainbow fashion sense & Bob Ross attitude. Highly recommended for any creative person needing a pick-me-up.

• reading: Just finished The Dispossessed (Ursula K Le Guin), in my slow determination to work through the bulk of her novels. Loved it, as I thought I would. For something more lighthearted, I read L.R. Lam’s Dragon Scales duology on vacation — very fun romp. Got an e-reader recently (my quest to reduce eyestrain continues!) and it’s really made a difference to how much I read.

If you’re in the northern hemisphere, stay warm as we head into the winter months, and keep the light on.

Love,

Siobhan