Re-Make/Re-Model

Having spent the last 10 days off work I've had a really good opportunity to get stuck in and make some progress with my writing. Whilst the holiday has been very productive it hasn't quite worked out as I expected. A printout of the third draft persuaded me that the early sections of the book-in-progress needed considerable streamlining. I've been concerned about providing extraneous detail that will end up sending the poor reader to sleep, so I have been busy trimming back or rewriting, and to very positive effect, I think.

Fortunately the weather has been excellent so I've settled into a routine of making the necessary amendments to the paper draft during sunny days in the backyard and then changing my Word document to match with relatively short bursts at the computer. Using this method I've managed to cover a lot of ground and now I'm much happier with the first 60 pages of the work-in-progress.

This break has provided a really nice balance, the days of hard work followed by some pleasant catch-up sessions with good friends during the evenings. An eclectic playlist on my MP3 player has accompanied my days in the sun, from Manuel Gottsching (who else), a lot of music on Pete Namlook's Fax label, ex-Tangerine Dream man Johannes Schmoelling's Zoo of Tranquility through to Underworld, Supertramp and Roxy Music! Variety is the spice of life, or so they say.

Today's re-writing session found me editing a section about the Correlations album and whilst the break didn't pan out as I originally planned, the earlier sections of the book would definitely have required more attention sooner or later. This afternoon, as I sat with a big pile of paper in my hands, I thought about how much work still lies ahead but the bulk of the writing is done now. All I require is the patience to sit and re-make/re-model what I already have.