Pulled up the swordfighting WIP for just a quick little bit of work, and decided to rename the file, save the old one and tuck it away, and then cut the second chapter to shreds. I named the new file cuttingthecrap.doc to inspire me. But I swear, within two minutes of starting, I looked at a line I'd cut and thought, "Wait a minute, have I explained what this is yet? If I haven't explained it, this won't make any sense." And within two minutes of sitting down to cut the crap, I was right back in there digging around to see if I'd explained the cut line and, if not, what I had to put back to get the explanation in and make sure the reader understood.

You know, it's true that the reader has to understand. But this way of thinking--which usually works for me at some point in a ms--is NOT serving me well now. It's getting in my way, big time. It's becoming a joke. This sounds counterproductive, but I have got to forget about making sense. Get the damn story in place. I can try to make sense later. For me, making sense is clearly something to do afterwards, as cleanup. At least, with this ms, right now, it is. I have got to get a grip on myself. I keep doing the same thing over and over, even when that same thing has done me no good and has not moved me forward so much as an inch in all the years of working on this thing.