All right--thanks to the understanding nature of my wife, who didn't mind my sneaking off to work at Starbucks on the 4th, I've got a finished draft of the new version. It makes sense in the ways the previous version didn't, but the price (at least as of today) is added exposition, an additional character, and a weakened ending.

So I have to find ways to lose the exposition and make the ending better. The additional character isn't a problem--he makes it more fun. But he's also the cause of the other two puzzle pieces.

What I'm working toward isn't some kind of completed checklist, but the internal click that tells me this is it. Whenever that happens, I have little moments over the next few days in which I realize three ways the new solution solves problems I wasn't even trying to solve at the time. I'm not there with this yet.

Writing is the least expensive stage for changes. Messing around with things now--even if I overdo it--costs nothing but my time and a few watts of neural energy. Messing with things later--that's when you start slipping your schedule and going over budget. I'd rather do it when it's free.

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