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midweek roundup
May. 14th, 2008 08:52 amWork: Woke up this morning with the thought that "Mad Cats and Englishmen" really wants to expand into a novel. Possibly YA. Either I need to beat that idea into submission, or someone better perfect that "out-of-the-vat work-capable clone" thing PDQ.
Am head-down in HARD MAGIC, meanwhile, and can almost see the light at the end of the (very)rough draft. Almost. Hopefully, it's not another rock-dragon. Once the draft is done, then I can go back and do my graphite edit, finding all the plot-faults and dropped threads that are endemic (for me) to the first mad rush of storytelling. I have always envied people who can think a story out all the way through and then just write it -- me, even working from an outline it still comes in layers, one on top of the other, and then folded together with a (hopefully) subtle hand.
So long as I don't get sick again (avert!) I should make deadline without panic. Having said that, however...
Play: Riding, week Nine: Back on CD. I love my sweet Sancho, but the truth is I enjoy riding CD a lot more. He has more of a jounce to his movement, true, but he's also not quite so barrel-girthed, making it easier for me to keep my leg steady. He's also more of a challenge -- if Sancho teaches me how I should be doing something, CD teaches me how to tell my horse to do something with me.
Anyway, I was allowed back into my stirrups, and seem to have internalized last week's lesson, because when I used a little too much leg and CD went from "nice canter" to "hyperdrive!canter" rather than losing my balance I leaned back and went along for the wheee. And it was very much whee -- I think C. expected me to be freaked out but I had a blast*. And it was my decision to pull back to a trot, not his; that's important.
Still having some trouble with my cornering, and there's stuff C. hasn't even touched on that I know I need to dig into...have to trust C. that she'll know when I should start focusing on it.
No lesson next week. Already I'm in withdrawal. What I'm going to do over the summer, when C. and I seem to be alternating Time Away, I don't know....
Research: I'm not sure if this should fall under the category of work or play, so I'm breaking it out on its own. I am compiling a stack (okay, a leaning tower) of materal, but not letting myself delve into it until the rough draft of HM is done. Talk about a carrot! Politics and geography and cartography and chemical analysis and that's even before I get to the wine-making stuff! *has her geek on*
*there is a woman who takes her lesson the same time I do, and she's a pretty good beginning rider except that I get the feeling she's got this inner OMG HORSE! fear going on. So when CD decided to make like the racehorse he ain't, my main concern was not for me, but that she'd get spooked. Thankfully, she seemd a little unnerved ("is my horse gonna do that?") but okay.
Am head-down in HARD MAGIC, meanwhile, and can almost see the light at the end of the (very)rough draft. Almost. Hopefully, it's not another rock-dragon. Once the draft is done, then I can go back and do my graphite edit, finding all the plot-faults and dropped threads that are endemic (for me) to the first mad rush of storytelling. I have always envied people who can think a story out all the way through and then just write it -- me, even working from an outline it still comes in layers, one on top of the other, and then folded together with a (hopefully) subtle hand.
So long as I don't get sick again (avert!) I should make deadline without panic. Having said that, however...
Play: Riding, week Nine: Back on CD. I love my sweet Sancho, but the truth is I enjoy riding CD a lot more. He has more of a jounce to his movement, true, but he's also not quite so barrel-girthed, making it easier for me to keep my leg steady. He's also more of a challenge -- if Sancho teaches me how I should be doing something, CD teaches me how to tell my horse to do something with me.
Anyway, I was allowed back into my stirrups, and seem to have internalized last week's lesson, because when I used a little too much leg and CD went from "nice canter" to "hyperdrive!canter" rather than losing my balance I leaned back and went along for the wheee. And it was very much whee -- I think C. expected me to be freaked out but I had a blast*. And it was my decision to pull back to a trot, not his; that's important.
Still having some trouble with my cornering, and there's stuff C. hasn't even touched on that I know I need to dig into...have to trust C. that she'll know when I should start focusing on it.
No lesson next week. Already I'm in withdrawal. What I'm going to do over the summer, when C. and I seem to be alternating Time Away, I don't know....
Research: I'm not sure if this should fall under the category of work or play, so I'm breaking it out on its own. I am compiling a stack (okay, a leaning tower) of materal, but not letting myself delve into it until the rough draft of HM is done. Talk about a carrot! Politics and geography and cartography and chemical analysis and that's even before I get to the wine-making stuff! *has her geek on*
*there is a woman who takes her lesson the same time I do, and she's a pretty good beginning rider except that I get the feeling she's got this inner OMG HORSE! fear going on. So when CD decided to make like the racehorse he ain't, my main concern was not for me, but that she'd get spooked. Thankfully, she seemd a little unnerved ("is my horse gonna do that?") but okay.
