Progress is our most important product

For most of last week I made little progress on my book. The work on the kitchen -- which was supposed to be finished by Friday but which, of course, continues -- and especially the effects of the work, namely the dust and disruption and its affect on me, Cris, and the cats -- occupied much of my time and attention. Actually I spent much of each day I wasn't able to work sitting at the dining room table listlessly surfing the web, or watching television, so that I could babysit our handyman -- to call him a contractor would be an insult to contractors -- and the cats, which were contaminated with dust and soot along with most of the rest of the house. One of the cats got so sick that Friday was taken up largely with two trips to the vet out on Taraval St.

Finally Saturday loomed as the first day I could possibly get any work done, and even then, I didn't get a chance to leave the house until after 2:00 pm. When I finally got away, I went straight to a movie in order to wash my mind of all the house-related thoughts and feelings. I saw War Photographer, a documentary about American war photojournalist Jim Nachtwey, who is apparently well known for his fearless descents into hellish, dangerous conditions. The film gives us plenty of these, as well as a few tributes from colleagues. Seeing the film certainly served the purpose of getting my mind off my own insignificant problems.

After that I was ready to go do my own work, and after eating some dinner I finally sat down a little before 6 pm. But I did 1500 words very quickly and fruitfully, finishing chapter 26. There are only two chapters to write now, and though they will be difficult because they will contain all the climactic stuff and all the loose ends typing-up, I feel I can say I'm truly in the home stretch.

My 1500 words took me over 150,000 words for the first draft. So finishing the last two chapters is just the end of the beginning of working on my book. I'll have to shape, cut, consolidate, cut, reshape, and cut some more in the coming months.