PROGRESS REPORT

"Slow and steady wins the race..."
Aesop 550 BC. "The Hare and the Tortoise"

"If you should put even a little on a little, and should do this often, soon this too would become big."
Hesiod 700 BC "The Theogony" 1. 361

Little by little I've accomplished what I set out to do the past week. I only have one more old chapter of Part III to finish retyping of Shadow of the Lion and then I'm done with it and can move on to the new chapters of Part V. I've tried to do a little each day but also allowed myself time to enjoy the currently beautiful weather with trips to the beach and Park and other pleasant activities.

In retyping the writing I did several years ago I am finding lots of places that can easily be omitted and/or revised and condensed. As well, I've found a couple of places where the action would work better if I move it up to Part VI. I've made the mistake of writing the child's character in a much 'older' point of view than he actually was, so this must be eliminated or changed drastically. Nothing too major, but definitely some serious rewrites are in order when I am ready to do my final draft. Fortunately, there are also some parts that work well, are clearly written and I am quite satisfied with them. But yes, I've found some crappy parts there and realize the reason I wrote them was simply for my own benefit -- character development -- and not because they are important enough to forward the plot. I'm looking at the old script with an 'editor's eye' and as if it was another person who wrote it (actually, I've forgotten I even wrote some of this stuff it was so long ago!) So I am making lots of omissions and/or editing notes as I go. And those are the chapter segements I'll give my full attention to later on. Right now I don't want to slow myself down by going back over it as I want to progress instead of taking backwards steps. So I will proceed with the new chapters, and hopefully will draw to the conclusion by the end of summer or early Fall. At least, that's my goal.

Editing for me is easy and having my critique group to give their commentaries is very helpful. So when I start my final draft editing/rewrites I know it won't take so much time as it's taken for me to actually write this novel. (It's taken me forever, it seems, but I want to do a good job of it.)

So, "Let us sacrifice to the Muses" Solon 638-559 BC, from Plutarch "The Banquet of the Seven Wise Men"

"It is tedious to tell again tales already plainly told"
Homer 700 BC "The Iliad" l 450

but...in order to write a story that is a literary tale and not a piece of fluff, I must persevere.

Later...Alexander's world is calling...