Whew!
I actually got out my rat's nest of a rough draft and found my place, finally.... and re-wrote chapter 11 ! Waaaah Hoooo!
I'm having an incredibly difficult time keeping everything straight. I have a folder with the original print out of the original rough draft. Then I have a folder on my destktop with the same thing. Then there is a folder with the rewritten chapters in it that get put there as they are worked over. Then there is a floppy..... actually three of them in various states of confusion. I spent some time and consolidated all this into: One desktop folder with the original, one with the rewrite, a floppy with the original and the rewrite and then of course there is the Hard Copy of the rewritten stuff that is in a 3 ring binder.
At one point, yesterday I almost considered just doing the rest of it by hand and retyping it later, I was so frustrated with all my piles of stuff! But I calmed down and pulled it all out and I think I know what I'm doing now.
Computers are pretty good at the word processing game. BUT shuffling documents from one place to another on it can be a risky business. I never breathe a calm breath until I have printed out the revised document. At least there, I can hold it, see it and have it on the day when the computer might go circuits up on me.
Frankly, next time, if there ever is a next time, I might just bypass the computer until I have what I think is a real workable story all handwritten. I am not convinced that this buzz box is easier. Sitting at the computer is not necessarily a friendly place, and I make up excuses not to sit here and work on the novel. But if one can take it with you on the road, up the creek, and even on horseback somewhere, well, that seems more "author friendly" than listening to my cooling fan whirring. . . .
Oh how I whine!
BUT I will post my new numbers on the side bar here.... I feel like I have just climbed Mt. Everest. And all I did was rework 6 pages of text.
But I had to pull those 6 pages from the clutches of chaos!!!
(What a weenie!)