Paksworld

Yesterday was a partial success (interference from gut bug, but still some production of decent story) and today, despite Book III’s attempt to lure me off to another project (at least, I’m blaming III for that, rather than the other project–a nonfiction book), I made progress on both of them.   1500 on the nonfiction,  not quite 1500 on III.

Book III would like to run smoothly, but too smoothly…I stopped it in its tracks today when it was about to have a perfectly normal conversation in a place that demanded something else.   “Wait,” I said.  “If A really started from X in the morning,  A should have reached Y by now.  And A is only halfway between.  B started from Y at noon and is halfway now, so do we see a problem?”

III looked a bit shamefaced and dug its bookish toe in the dirt and mumbled “I guess so.”

“Well, then,” I said.  “Let’s back up a page and start over, shall we?”

“If you really want to.”

“I really want this book to catch fire,” I said.  “And it won’t if you start slopping around not paying attention.  You’re not listening to the plot daemon, are you?”

“Um…no.”

“SO we go back, and we LISTEN to him, is that clear?”

Deep sigh.  “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good.”

Back a page and suddenly the behaviors that had seemed merely a bit rude were shown in their True Colors (DARK colors) and the story got the bit in its teeth and lunged forward.

“I meant that all along,” III said afterwards.  “I was just testing you.”

Yeah, right.   It’s never the book’s fault.

Details, details, details.  God and the Devil are both in the details.