Packing

And so it begins. We’ve spent the day packing, running last minute errands and checking the status of Dublin airport. It appears like everything there is fixed–delays abound, but at least there are no cancellations today. Let’s hope the same holds true for tomorrow. I’d post some pictures . . . but I’ve already packed the camera and the cables. So sorry. We leave tomorrow at 5:20 for a flight at 9:50. Anyone who wants to see us off at Bratislava airport better be there at 7:50, because that’ll be your one chance. ๐Ÿ™‚

Writing update: I discovered a few days ago that I had made a major plotting error about 10,000 words back. One of the difficulties of this book has been adapting the original into a new setting and all with new characters. As I’ve mentioned before, some of these characters just refuse to behave the same way as the original (something which I take to be a good sign). Anyway, I was writing at a fast clip, and then the next thing I knew, I hit a brick wall. Nothing felt right. I tried four or five different approaches to keep going, but they all felt flat. So I took a while and looked at the book as a whole to try and figure out what was going wrong. In the end I found the mistake, along with a few other fairly major ones. I have since reworked the material, and it feels like I can now progress.

It’s funny. Sometimes writing a book feels to me like doing a maze. There are dead ends in your plot, you take wrong turns with actions or characters and have to do some retracing until you’re back on the right path. The more complex the book and the more characters you have, the more chances you have for mistakes. One of the criticisms of the original was that the characters felt too much like pawns at times, doing things so that the plot could advance rather than doing things that they would logically do. I didn’t see it at the time, but that’s been very apparent during this revision. Hopefully I’m doing a better job of it now.

Watched Curse of the Jade Scorpion two nights ago. I’m a Woody Allen fan, and this one is no exception for me. No, it’s no Annie Hall, and it’s not as memorable to me as Bullets Over Broadway or one of my other favorites, The Purple Rose of Cairo. But it’s got fun characters, snappy dialogue and is just an overall good time. Of course, like almost all of Allen’s films, if you can’t stand a little risque humor (or a lot), you’re best steering clear. In any case, three stars for me, and I’m happy because it’s one of the Allen films DKC likes, too.

2 thoughts on “Packing”

  1. Jade Scorpion
    We’ve got this one too, and I enjoy it. My favorite thing is the banjo music he uses throughout – really effective/funny. I hope your flight goes well!!
    -Gretel

  2. Checking in
    Bryce,
    It’s so fun to hear about the progress on your book! Maybe I can say I went to school with a famous author someday. Sounds like you are having quite the summer experience. Good luck with all the plane travel. ๐Ÿ™‚
    Lauren Reber

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