I'm annoyed. I pulled up the ms--this is the latest version from scratch, only 30 pages (single-spaced) so far, mostly new, as opposed to the 300-page version I trashed a while back. Now that I've got this emotional-point thing in my head, looking at this 30 page version was bugging me because it's not crystal clear like what I want to be doing today. I looked at it and couldn't wrap my mind around getting started, couldn't relate it to the notes I made and the clarity in my head from this morning. So I saved under a new file name, put that version away, and started cutting everything that is not a clear emotional piece--in other words, cutting setup, transitions, descriptions, explaining. And I cut SIX PAGES. &%!@$#. No wonder I was feeling tender about it. No wonder I was feeling unclear. I was starting to lose my way. I've got to try to keep this immediate, sharp--got to stay on task. Stay with the gut. That is what comes off the page and engages the reader, not the other stuff. Unless the reader is very patient, very intellectual, or very weird.