Like it does with the roads and traffic, a rainy day messes me up something fierce.

The threat of rain this morning extended my workday three hours, which I don’t mind because a few more ducats on my paycheck is a welcome thing.

K had a lunch appointment, so that meant driving downtown to pick her up, which I also don’t mind because I’m such a loving and helpful husband.

V had soccer practice, which meant running around in a blustery, heavy mist along with the coach and 5 2nd-grade girls on a muddy field, and the final game of the season is tomorrow, and they needed the practice, but I don’t mind since I’m such a dedicated and helpful father.

V’s friend is sleeping over, which meant making dinner (hot dogs and oven-baked fries) and dessert (banana bread and chocolate ice cream).  Now the girls are watching HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE while I write about not working on the outline.  It’s that very last part I mind.

On one hand, I don’t like not getting anything done.  At all.  It feels counter-productive.  A day spent not writing is another day to wait for things to pay off.  Like the saying goes, “this thing ain’t gonna write itself.”

But, if I look at it from a different angle, I wasn’t feeling as productive as I could have been, so maybe not writing actually worked in my favor.

I’ve been running scenarios in my head since yesterday.  Where do I want the story to go from here?  Can I still follow my plot point milestones?  Am I still in control of this thing?

I’m working on the first question, and a fairly certain ‘yes’ to the second two.

I don’t know how much I’ll be able to get done this weekend, so progress may be on hold until Monday.  But during that time I’ll be trying to figure stuff out, including maybe incorporating possible suggestions/feedback from the writing group.

But for now, my main concern with the first act is that I didn’t do enough exploring the main character.  Again, hopefully the feedback from the group will be helpful.

-I’ve recently started mentioning new posts on Facebook, which I think is contributing to more people checking this blog out.  And that’s great.

I hope people are enjoying my materials, which is what any writer wants.  I’m curious to know what they think of all of this.

Are they enjoying following my progress?  Do they have any questions about how this works?  Does this remind you of another blog, and if so, which one?  Do you think that writer would like mine?  Does anybody know somebody in LA that would be interested in my taking a look at my stuff?  These are questions that need, almost demand, an answer.

So to paraphrase Chicago elections, comment early and comment often.