Challenge

The short novel I'm working on, about the last day in the life of an old man, is as challenging as anything I've written, which is the primary reason I'm excited about it. I've done enough journalism in my life to know what fitting new data into established narrative forms is like, and I try to do nothing like that in my more creative work. I try to embrace narrative devices I haven't used before. As here, in the work in progress. I'm eager to get to it.

The large last section, maybe half the book, is the challenge, not in formal but dramatic terms. 2 characters over a long haul, a very unlikely pairing, to keep it suspenseful, moving forward, thematically in line with my purpose.

By the end of the week, I can get back to it.