Here’s a little sliver of what it’s like to be a novelist:
I just finished the first draft of a new book. I’m an old hand at this now, and it only took about nine weeks. I usually take a short break to let the manuscript “cool,” then spend another 9-12 weeks on the rewriting and polishing. So finishing the first draft really is about the middle of the process, not the end of anything, but I celebrate anyway.
During the last two or three weeks of a first draft is when I most resemble the stereotype of the absent-minded professor/dreamy-artiste-befuddled-by-the-world. I spend all day cooped up with my imaginary friends, spinning out the climax of the story as fast as I can, rarely leaving the house except to go stand around drunk smiling at charity benefits, trying to remember people’s names. I can’t sleep at night for stewing over my novel, but I can readily fall asleep at dinner parties and awaken to find that people have “decorated” me to use me as a “centerpiece.” You know who you are.
Anyway. I finish the first draft and it would be nice to take a break. But I surface in the “real world” and find all the business/paperwork/yardwork/housework/reminders/ errands/parenting that I’ve been neglecting. So now I’m very busy, zero to sixty, catching up with life.
A couple of weeks of that, and a plunge into rewriting won’t look so bad.
- To Your Health: This is National Public Health Week, and Shasta County Public Health marks it by releasing an update of its Healthy Shasta 2010 Strategic Plan. Overall, the update found improvement in Shasta County’s health. Data from 2006-7 found improvement in 33 of 60 target categories, 19 goals with no change and eight areas where things had worsened. Among other things, the update found that more children were eating fruit and fewer were exposed to secondhand smoke. To see the report, click here.
- ArtHop founders Troy Hawkins and Adam Mankoski will be guest bartenders on Friday at Maritime Seafood & Grill, 1600 California St., starting at 7 p.m. They promise a mean ArtHop-tini.
- DVD I Watched on the Treadmill: “Boarding Gate,” a whispery, steamy, incomprehensible thriller starring the frequently unclothed Asia Argenta and Michael Madsen, who’s looking more and more like The Terminator’s boozy brother.
Tips appreciated: Send news tidbits to steveb.anewscafe@gmail.com.
