clues at the scene

clues at the scene

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Twenty Pounds of Mud

At left, the contents of my fly fishing bag.

Twenty pounds of mud, indeed. I forgot the jerky was in there from November.  Louis the foxhound did not. Helpful hound.

I don't think I need to be carrying three pairs of hemostats. I'm not taking out an appendix. Well, not yet I haven't.


SO, new trout bag: The Essex Side Bag from Finn Utility. Handmade in Vermont. Brass, leather, heavy canvas.

It'll last a good thirty years. It'll last fifty with a little care. This is the gold standard in wading bags. Hardy and Chapman have nothing on my Yankee friends.

After a little selective editing, all I needed fit nicely in the new bag.

I'm revising a story now. I had to do some major structural work last night because it wasn't optimal. The story worked; but, it could work better. Out with the word saw.

Tomorrow means I start "the careful draft" according to the reader's map I've laid out. Much of what I need is in the "silver" draft I have now. Some language needs some attention for content and the new story continuity.

I  find a story is about X when I start but it is about Y when I finish. I didn't know it was about Y until my characters showed me my error.

Then, I play catch-up. That's where I am now.

I had twenty pounds of story mud. I have a ten pound submission limit. Thus, we're doing some work.

I hope you are doing some work, too.

If you call it a "fishing purse" I'll have to correct you. A "fishing purse" is the item you buy your wife as you disappear on a brush plane each summer. As one must spend as much on one's wife's gift as you spend on the fly-in fishing trip, they're damn nice bags.

I either need a cheaper fishing trip or professional sponsorship.

Maybe Finn needs a spokesmodel.


2 comments:

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

I think a professional sponsorship is a good idea!

Can we get those for writing, too? :)

jack welling said...

Absolutely!

They're called advances.

Put the publisher logo big on the jumpsuit you wear at readings and book signings. Maybe get some secondaries like Bic Pens and Epson printers for the sleeves and arm patches.

The only bit is, to keep the sponsorship you have to win - or place high - in the Bestseller Races.

I'm still back trying to get my '74 Pacer with the Chevy shortblock V-8 dropped-in to win at the local dirt oval on Friday night.