A Routine
As you know, I've been working on the rewrite of The Man You Trust since the day after Eli 18.3 left for school.I'll take a picture for you at some point, because I'm keeping all my notes. Hundreds of pages, to rewrite a hundred and ten pages.
What I've done is establish a routine, and I was lucky to find the perfect place for doing that. The Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park is beautiful, but I don't go there for the gardens, or the sculptures.
I go for the cafeteria, which is open and bright, and just large enough to be able to find your own space.
I arrive at 8:30, meditate in the parking lot, then walk in at 9, when it opens. A muffin, some Diet Coke, and I start writing at 9:30. I stay for 2-3 hours, depending on how busy it gets during the lunch hour.
The continuity frees my brain up to write more effectively because there are fewer distractions. Plus it's only about ten minutes from the house, so it's convenient as well.
I am definitely counter-flow. The worse the weather, the better it is for me, because there will be fewer visitors. If I'm really lucky, I can write 4+ hours in relative solitude.
I'm mentioning this because I have a few stories to tell about my time there, and I'm telling them over the next few days. I'm also going to start calling it "the Gardens," because I don't want to accidentally wind up in Google search (which has happened with other things).
I'm roughly at about 40% of the rewrite at this point. I'm focusing more on process, just putting in time every day, working through problems, trying to make steady progress. Having a hard date creates some artificial issues around pace that can really become a problem, so I'm just keeping my head down and putting time in.
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