The current version of the manuscript for The Do Over contains over 93,000 words. I spent all day today typing in seven scenes which I'd written longhand over the past month and had never gotten around to entering into the computer.

The first chapter, which I'd written a few months ago, had been retooled from the original first few scenes because I'd changed the location and time of the opening for dramatic purposes. As a result of this change, the second chapter is also going to require a lot of rework from the next batch of scenes. My goal is to tackle that project, next: to craft a second chapter out of what I have so far.

This past week, I've received some amazing critique on the first chapter, which I intend to employ as soon as I finish the first complete draft of chapter two. My primary concern is to tighten the opening, flesh out a particular scene in the middle, and more directly address the world from which my main character has appeared so that it's clearer to the reader what is at stake, initially. However, it's important to move the project forward, so I must have a draft of the second chapter before I begin re-working the first.

That said, I'm hoping that the crafting of the third and later chapters will be a little easier, as the repercussions of changing the opening location/time should flatten out pretty quickly. My goal is to have the first four chapters completed in draft form, with the first three relatively polished, by the end of the month. It's an ambitious goal (this, coming from the guy who had once planned to have the entire manuscript done by now), but attainable. Since the rest of the proposal is already done, all I'll need to do is slip in the first three chapters and send this out to my agent of choice... and then, keep writing!

Must keep writing. If the agent of choice responds that he wants to see more, I'd better have more to send.

In the meantime, I've sent off one short story so far for consideration. I have another goal of getting revised versions of *all* of my Clarion West stories out there for consideration before December rolls around.

A couple of my fellow Clarionites have recently sent word of their work being accepted for publication by various periodicals. The key to their success? Not only are they writing, but they send out what they write. They are most excellent writers, but that's not all it takes. And, thus, if I'm to enjoy any kind of success, it is time for me to send out my work, as well.

Today, tomorrow, and Thursday are dedicated to The Do Over. Next week, I'll set aside time for both the novel and for readying a short story.

Oh, and one more thing. The results of the poll on whether I should change the name of the novel are rather clear: the majority of visitors to my site think that I should change the name. While I'm not certain yet about whether to change the title, I'm happy to report that I now have some interesting possible contenders to take the place of "The Do Over" as the title. Thanks go out to my critiquers, a couple of whom made excellent suggestions.

That's all for now. More soon.

--Allan