Better, and a few odd happenings

I don't have the Death Migraine anymore, but my back is still sore. That one spot keeps throbbing, just out of reach, where I can't rub it out myself. Gah!

We went to get the oil changed in both cars today, and had a lovely morning sitting in a mechanic's waiting room. Tim needed to have his brakes replaced, so I let him drive home in my truck while I sat around and waited for his Jeep. I had my laptop with me, so I did some work, and then had a lovely chat with the other patrons in the lobby.

I don't drive the Jeep very often, and after driving my Monster Truck, it feels tiny! The handling is also very stiff compared to the truck's. It was still a novelty to drive it home. But that's when all the fun started.

Tim keeps his keys on the nightstand next to his side of the bed. When I got home, I put his keys on my nightstand. Well, duh. He'd never have found them there in the dark tonight. I couldn't find where he put my keys, either. On the kitchen counter, it turns out. We got all that sorted out pretty quickly. I put my keys where I usually do, in the Pile O'Crap on the ottoman where I keep my laptop when it's not on my lap. Of course, that meant when I went to get Lulu from school this afternoon, I couldn't find my darn keys to save my life. Panic ensued. I found them eventually, and all is right with the world again.

Sorry, got distracted there. Tim came in and put on The Family Feud and I can't help myself but to play along. Sick, right? Great, there's another episode on, and it's the Johnson Family versus the Johnson Family. I kid you not. Too many Johnsons.

Anyway, one final bit of nuttiness. I checked my Blogger stats today for the first time in a while, and oddly, this very blog was found by someone using the search term "I'm a writer who is schizoid." What? Seriously?

Also, I've noticed that each time I reread my WIP, I focus on a different aspect of editing. One time through I might focus on grammar and spelling. The next time, I'll focus on continuity. The next, I'll make sure my dialogue tags aren't too bizarre. Maybe another pass-through will find me focusing on removing redundant bits of conversation, or finding all those places where I used the same word three times in one paragraph. Another will focus on the removal of stilted-sounding dialogue. I never seem to be able to coordinate all those things into one reading.

I've also found that when I make significant changes to one aspect, I need to go back for a follow-up reading to be sure I didn't change it so much it no longer fits right into the story, and that it doesn't parrot back another section. I've found that before. I'll make an edit to a conversation, and the characters already had that discussion thirty pages ago, or thirty pages in the future, but I couldn't remember it when I made the change. Aah, continuity.

So with that in mind, I'm making what I hope is the last pass over the second novel before returning to the first.