inexquisite agony

matociquala has an amazing post about Van Gogh's sunflowers.

Me, I'm wading through the Great Grimpen Mire.

The problem with revising--as opposed to editing or rewriting (terminology definitions)--is that it's nothing but problem solving. Widget A won't interlock with gizmo B. You find a fix. Widget A has been replaced by thingamajig C. You kludge together a fit with gizmo B.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

And you keep doing it. And keep doing it. (This book is 730 ms pages long.) Until you're practically crying with boredom and all your other story ideas come and watch and give you sad, seductive panda eyes. (Kind of like this, actually.) And you say, "Deadline, deadline! Leave me alone!" And go on trying to fit whatsit D into line with widget A.

It's a dog's life in the modern army.

as the Great Grimpen Mire tries to drag my hipwaders off

Chapter 7: 7,895 words

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A lot of duct tape in this chapter.

On-freaking-wards.