I’d seen the idea for using a spreadsheet program to track scenes, but the ‘how’ of using a spreadsheet eluded me.  I’ve never had a use for a spreadsheet (that I knew of — I was mistaken), and my finding a simple explanation of non-numerical uses was hampered by not knowing what search terms to use.

At the moment, I’m working on a novel (working title:  Marilyn’s Fan) that is probably a suspense story.  I’ve invented characters about whom I’m slowly learning and I have two main settings about which I’m not thrilled, but they seem to fit reasonably with the story events so, for the moment, these two places are where things will happen.

The events that triggered the story idea are now bowing to story pressure — reality doesn’t have to make sense; a story does — and so I need to juggle people and what they get up to in order to fit the characters, their motives, and the resulting actions into a form that makes sense to a reader.

And then, there’s Christmas.  It’s like an elephant in the room.  It is going to arrive whether I’m ready for It or not, and there are expectations about It.  No, the world will not come to an end if the expectations are not met — Whoville celebrated despite the Grinch — but we will have lost something in our shared experience if little effort is expended.  December is not a good month to start (re)plotting a long work, but if it wasn’t Christmas whining for attention on the other side of the closed door, it would be something else.

Despite the plotting, Christmas will go on, and despite Christmas, the plotting will continue.

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And now, in addition to Christmas, the dentist awaits.

Writing is a real job (if poorly paying).  I wish the Universe would keep up.