How They Scored

I got an idea for the resolution of the book. My idea up to now has been to have Denny hold out an alternative job idea to Hap and then yank it away at the last minute. Tonight I had an idea of how that could happen. Denny, the former film student, starts talking about the scene in Citizen Kane where Joseph Cotton passes out drunk at the typewriter and Kane finishes his brutal review of Susan's opera debut. When Cotton wakes up, he's told "Mr. Kane is finishing your piece the way you started it.... I guess that'll show you." And then Kane fires him. And Denny goes on to say something that compares him yanking the job away from Hap to that -- something about loyalty to him and not to the friendship... or vice versa.

Sunday. Yesterday I did 2500 words -- though that figure is cheating slightly, since I had done 300 of those during the week but did not count it as a working session -- and by the end of the day I still had a whole social evening to go to (of course I had to stop early because of it). And by the end of that I was completely exhausted. I decided to skip church this morning and sleep in, and I was glad I did, since I slept til 9:00. I'm in the middle of chapter 9 and I'm about to do the first sex story told by Don. There might be only this one from him. I'm over 55,000 words.

Whew -- well, I managed to squeeze out 2000 words yesterday -- exactly 2000. That leaves only 4000 for today. Since I'm doing a Greg story, it might not be that hard. The most inspired day I've had so far is when I wrote the chapter about Greg and Growler. However, I have to differentiate it from my own experience as far as possible, and I have to make it typically Greg -- suspicious, aggressive, insistent on getting what he paid for. I think it would be interesting to make it representative of the business approach of a certain type of person, and in fact the original impulse I had for Greg's character fits into this perfectly -- the obnoxious business type I encountered in Las Vegas whom I overhead saying: "I'm gonna make about $2000 on the deal. Hey, I figure, he charges me for his labor, so I'm gonna charge him for my money. If he worked for free then I could do him a favor." Implicit in this view of the world is the notion that everyone else is bound ...

I had a good weekend last weekend, with just over 6000 words, and I start this weekend at 47,000-plus. Yet I'm increasingly worried about my deadline. If I average 5000 words per weekend from now til Thanksgiving, That will only bring me to 78,000. What I really need to do is average 7000 per week -- nearly impossible without working a four-day week at my job. So perhaps what I'll have to do is "work at home" one day a week. And it would be a good idea to start that on Monday, since Cris has delayed her return from vacation by a day and will not be returning until late Monday night. All right, what am I going to do today? The book is completely out of my mind. I should have prepared by catching up on it yesterday, but I spent the whole evening doing laundry and listening to the ball game. I'll have to catch up now. This is an example of how I still am inefficient when it comes to use of my time. It occurs to me that I still don't have an outline, and that it w...

Early Sunday evening. I did a good 3000 words yesterday, and 900 today to finish that scene, which I interrupted in order to go out with A. Now I want to write the next sex scene, because there hasn't been one in a while, and for that reason it also has to be a good one to reward the reader for sticking with it. It's either Shaun's, Denny's, or Don's turn -- Don hasn't had a sex story yet. I'm inclined to let him go next after this one, which is at the beginning of chapter 8. (I'm over 45,000 words.) I think it should be Shaun. Let's see... something in keeping with his character... Suppose he met a girl at some anarchist conference. (Earlier I had made a note about him telling a story that takes place at Burning Man, but I think I'll leave that to Seth, the over-achiever.) Hmm, I'm finding that the only person who could tell the Orna-cum-Amnesia story is Shaun. Bart is also the type, but I'm establishing him as someone who (against type)...

So, that day on the train was a bust in terms of writing my book -- aside from getting to read as much of "Sexus" as I wanted to. I got most of the way through it. Now I'm staying at home today, Saturday, instead of going to Bob's house, because Cris isn't here and it's less hassle than getting over there, given that I have to stop early AGAIN. This time because I have symphony tickets and I have to get dressed and meet Anna for dinner beforehand. OK, THINK ABOUT THE BOOK.

board the Coast Starlight en route to Oakland. I was hoping to get some work done on the train, but all around me people are talking, the motion of the train is unpleasant -- unlike the local train which I took from Ventura to Santa Barbara which apparently used new equipment -- and there's no power for my laptop. The noise of people talking is the worst; I can't think well enough to compose. But maybe I can make some notes. Hap has gone out onto the deck to talk to Denny. I have to find some use for this conversation. Q: What are some of the things they can talk about? A: Small talk -- what are they both doing lately -- use this to show moods and attitudes. Of more use -- Hap can ask Denny to buy his building, and Denny can reply with news about what he's doing lately, his wealth, and might hold out some hope that he can fulfill Hap's needs by either buying his building or possibly doing something else even more glorious but vague. Arrgh, can't think at all.