My Hand Hurts!

You see, I've practically rewritten all of chapter six, which is the latest bit of revising I've done on HH. I had to take out an entire, almost chapter-length conversation between my characters which was to do with a conflict I'm no longer using, and write in a whole new chapter-length conversation using a brand new conflict. I've been working on paper, doing all my changes in a red pen, then typing them all up into a new draft on my laptop. The side of my index finger seems moulded to the hexagonal shape of the pen barrel. Nice.

I'm edging closer to the halfway point and am still hoping to have it all done by the end of this month. I'm really looking forward to starting work on my new idea, too, which is spurring me on to get HH done and out the door.

I have ridiculously high hopes for this new idea. Well, not hopes exactly -- high hopes implies you are likely to achieve them, even if they're very tough. It would probably be better to describe the feeling as high ambitions. I would love for this next project to go a very long way -- straight up into a very specific stratosphere -- but whether it does...

Well. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. I'm going to plan it and write it with a very specific vision of where I want to see it in five or ten years' time. It will help me get the right feel and the right tempo. I hope.

And, no, I'm not saying what my "high ambition" is. It's too embarrassing. Imagine a student at a school careers counselling session saying "I'm going to take over from Bill Gates" or "I'm going to be Prime Minister", and really, really thinking it could happen. Well, that's me.

Yup. High ambitions indeed.


Just finished reading: The Shadowy Horses by Susanna Kearsley