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The Value of Time

It might be the sensation of crossing Summer's Zenith and seeing more of the warm days behind me than ahead, or it might be the 'to do plans' of the Summer become more crossed off than not, or the fact that Camp NaNoWriMo is in day 17; but I have been VERY aware of lost time as of late.

It's not a bad feeling. More of a 'did I do enough' melancholy and slight frustration meshed with the bliss of success.

I did kill off a couple of days this week trying to draw a map. Digitally. Never again (yah, right!)

I think that's what is really giving me the slow burn that I'm feeling.

Even writing on this blog feels like I'm not doing my job as a writer (to complete the current work). However; creeping out of my writer's hole is important to do... from time to time.

Anyway, eight chapters left to finish AND the intro hook stuff to hammer out (I leave chapter 1 or the preface for last. It's outlined, but never written out). I've had to re-write and re-imagine too many chapter 1's in too many works after the rough draft is completed. Properly setting up the hooks, plot twists, themes, pacing, and expectations right off the rip is a big deal to me.

Also, rolling up to the words 'The End' also shifts my mind-set in many ways. The creative monkey is led back to its cave. The inner editor is gently poked. Updated plans for later books in the series begin to get noted. In general, my thinking shifts from the microcosm of the book to the Macrocosm of everything bound to the analysis of this book's word-covered pages.

Thus, the gamer in me wants a map.

Map the town. Map the region. Map the Old Post Office. Map map mappity map. Detailed ones, too. I want to know who lives near who. I want to know travel times, by foot or car. Sure, I can call up Mapquest or any other 50+ free services and figure it out in a moment's notice. But the inner gamer wants me to DRAW one.

So I wasted a few days trying to download and beat the learning curve on a free RPG mapping app.

I think I'll find a cave for my inner gamer right next to my creative monkey. They can have coffee together, talk about the latest RPG, and play Pokemon in the mornings so that my inner editor can get some work done.

-Dave

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