I have finished my second draft of my current novel (working title The Solo Project). It is written almost entirely in first person, with multiple documents, poems, telephone calls, and scraps of things included. I printed it out recently to code the parts—are they present? past? how many people are involved? The result is a table full of craziness that did a little of what it was supposed to do… which was to show me visually where things were slowing down.

I think more than the storyboard, the process of reading through the book and deciding how to categorize the different parts has been eye-opening. Right now I am procrastinating on working on a scene that isn’t working. I’m confident that going back in will only make this better, but I am a little shy this time around, not sure exactly why. The coding has filled that gap and I have learned some stuff.

It is a very short novel and meant to be scalpel taut. But resonant. Operating theater is a good metaphor for the tightness of attention I am trying to hold onto even as the politics of medicine and treatment reverberate far beyond those rooms. This is psychological set piece with a rural backdrop… a very specific one. I am hoping I can deliver this monster without killing the mother… me.