The Trouble with Time
The other day I realized that all my problems with works in progress relate to time. It's damned difficult to manipulate. I had a two-day breakdown during draft #1 of MY SUMMER OF SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT when I realized that Natalie couldn't practice law in Georgia. Why? Because there was no way her fitness certificate could have cleared in time. That was a bad epiphany. It involved me saying "Fuck" a lot and clenching my hair in my fists. I worked around it, but man, those were a shaky two days.
Similarly, while working on some research for book #2 I was playing with the birth date of the father and realized that if I wanted a plot element (the Dustbowl) to be present I needed to adjust his age. This impacted the age of all the children, one of whom I'd drafted to Vietnam. Then I panicked, afraid I'd thereby made him too young to be draft eligible. Never mind that this is all back story. It makes my heart race. clench my hair and mutter obscenities. Damn Time.
I don't expect this will be the last time I battle Time. I just wish it didn't always have the advantage.