Well, I have to break my habit of taking weekends to do creative writing (so no Novel Weekends this weekend, alas), in order to make sure that I continue the momentum with this chapter. I can still see the finish line in the distance, but if I don’t want to lose sight of it I have to keep moving.
I’ll be honest, though; it feels like this revision is eating up my entire life. Ugh. This is what happens when your first draft is a bit of a hot mess (even though it took like 8 months to write). Still, I just have to remember to be patient with myself. Sometimes, the more complex an idea is, the longer it takes to eloquently and coherently articulate it.
Today was a bit of a mixed bag. While I finished up a few sections, there are still that are a bit glaring in terms of their inconsistency. However, the section on female sexuality is almost complete (should be able to definitively finish it tomorrow), and I aim to also finish the section on sexuality and queerness as well. I might even (if I’m extraordinarily lucky and determined) make it most of the way through colour. I was particularly happy with the way that my discussion of fashion turned out today; hoping for more of that sort of breakthrough tomorrow.
Once again, I managed to trim out a few pieces of superfluous material, which I did through a combination of deletion and relegating things to footnotes. I’m well aware that most people don’t even read the damn things, but there are, I think, little tidbits and supplementary information that can’t necessarily be included in the main body of the text but that you want to see the light of day.
So, tomorrow is going to be a busy day. Sunday, alas, is a bit out of the running for work of any kind, though I might be able to squeeze a few pages of the close reading of Samson and Delilah. If not, I am definitely going to try to get both that section and the one on David and Bathsheba done on Monday.
The chapter is sitting at around 18k words, which is pretty long, but I am determined to keep this under 20k. Anything longer than that, and I fear that it is going to lose focus altogether.
But, onward.
And.
Onward.
Queerly Different 
Onward!
I agree with your note about footnotes. It’s a compromise for writing we are proud, but just can’t work for the cohesive chapter…and who knows, maybe those footnotes will be their own chapter someday, or help another researcher in his/her work!
As for momentum… I notice writing is a lot like a marathon. If you stop at mile 20, it’s a lot harder to continue. However, continuous steady pacing is also important! Good luck this weekend. Maybe you’ll take some days off diss writing during the week to get some novel days in?
I feel the same way. That’s part of the reason I just keep writing, so that I can continue feeling the forward movement.
I may or may not have time to write in the novel at all this week…I also have grading to do. Sigh. Oh well. Better luck next week!
Catching up on all the end of semester grading? Do you teach over the summer as well?