I have been working on my former GN this week, just haven't posted. Today I am determined to write out some of a certain part I keep dodging. I keep writing around that part because my time is so cut up, and also when I sit down to work interruptions can pop in at any moment, so what's the point in getting deeply into something that's difficult? But today I have no excuse. It must be done.

Been working with other writers on their WIPs, and thinking about their stuff is sparking writing parts of my brain that usually lie dormant. I'm thinking maybe when I'm ready to pick up the swordfighting ms, I'll do so with a big jolt of nice, fresh energy and (I hope) a new angle of attack.

Was thinking about American's Next Top Model, one of my current guilty indulgences (along with Wife Swap; no longer of interest are Ghost Hunters and Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares). For some reason, I like the parts where the models practice/learn their runway walks. I don't know anything about it, but you certainly can tell when their walks have energy and power and when they don't. Then at the end of the runaway they have to hit a pose: BAM! Like, here are the clothes, and here I am, and I'm looking at you. And I was thinking there's something similar in writing novels; that's kind of how a scene feels when it's done properly--it moves in one direction with energy and power, and then it hits you with the point it wants to make: BAM! And you can feel when a scene's not "walking" properly, even if you can't define it. If there's no "pose" hitting you to make you understand or feel something, then the whole thing is a letdown and comes off as limp and dishraggy.