Dis/inhibition: I tackled all of my editor’s substantive comments except the ones related to race. This is a tricky area. I want to take my time considering what she has to say, understanding that she isn’t a person of color, either, and so whose instincts matter here? Her comments have certainly given me a lot to think about, and there will be some rewriting, mostly to change back things I had already changed before she read them, and to rewrite some stuff I was never that comfortable with anyway.

New story: I finished chapter 3 and sent it off to the Sculptor. Last weekend, I took a break from it to start thinking through what I want to do in the next few chapters. I am tackling this story like I did The Destroyer: I have a general idea where I want the characters to be at the end, but I only outline a few chapters in advance of the one I am writing, and even that is subject to change if I get a better idea.

This week’s goal: make some progress on chapter 4.

Dis/inhibition: I finished with my editor’s cosmetic changes and am now procrastinating taking on her more substantive comments. I thought I could handle a little constructive criticism, I weathered it fine in the past, but maybe I just had a trust-thing with my writing coach, where I felt it was okay to dismiss what she said if I didn’t agree with it. Now I find myself questioning my own writing, which is just paralyzing on the final draft when it should only be polishing.

New story: Still working on chapter 3, technically. I finished a full draft of it and decided to step back and think a bit about upcoming chapters, just in case there was something in them I needed to establish in chapter 3. In doing so, I discovered a plot hole I have been wrestling with. It’s not fatal, it’s just a matter of my imagination coming up with a good hole-filler. It’s a hole of missing motivation for a state of affairs that is central to the story and one of my character’s entire life circumstances. Nothing worse in a story than lame motivation for one’s Plot Device Darling.

I was on the road last weekend and so didn’t have the opportunity to check in on the writing.

Dis/inhibition: I have started folding my editor’s corrections into the manuscript. She also had some really complex questions for me about my handling of race and subculture with my characters, questions I am doing my best to consider.

New story: I handed over chapter 1 of the story to the Sculptor to read a couple of weeks ago, and gave chapter 2 to her Wednesday morning, so I guess I’m on my way. She is reading mostly in a motivational/cheerleading capacity, and so far it does seem to be helping me keep working on this steadily, and dig a little deeper in each chapter as opposed to just spitting out a thin half-assed first draft as I have done in the past. Not that there’s anything wrong with that approach–it’s like writing and outlining at the same time; it helps you figure out what the story’s about. But I wanted to go deeper in this story’s first draft, and see where I can take it that might end up more interesting.

Currently in the midst of writing chapter 3.