Rambling

My current mood these days is: so much to do, so little time!

That goes for work (where they keep dumping more and more and more things on me and turning each of them into a Byzantine over-complex nightmare to churn through) and for my writing. I finally clued in on why the next chapter of Catch Me wasn't working; I wrote a big blow up between... well... that would be telling, but it was between somepony and somepony else, with other someponies caught in the crossfire. Anyway, I suddenly realized it felt wrong because it was not how that character would react. So, time to scrap most of that chapter and start again.

But, The Woman is eating up almost all of my writing time right now. It's 'finished' but I can't seem to stop myself from investing hours into polishing each chapter before I publish it... oh... and re-writing major chunks of chapters to come. On one hand I'm super happy with it, and on the other I'll breath a sigh of relief once it's DONE!

And then there's An Honest Man.

360,000+ words written so far.

And it's all crap.

Well, not crap really but, again, it's just not working... but I have hit upon how to hammer it into shape. Some kind of shape anyway. Right now the romance is about as delightful as boiled cabbage. I was watching Servants: The True Story of Life Below Stairs...

https://youtu.be/kbAsugV-jF8?t=1740

...when it clicked and I was inspired to bang out this brief sketch:

"Just stay by my side as we promenade."

A hush fell as she led me out into the crowd of gorgeously dressed ponies. Heads turned to stare and I felt a cold nervous sweat break out on the back of my neck. Across the room I could see the orchestra settling into place and raising their instruments.

She stopped.

So I stopped. In the very middle of the ballroom.

Whispering and cocking curious eyebrows, Canterlot's finest Lords and Ladies stepped back, whispering, wondering.

She moved in front of me, suddenly rose up onto her hind legs, threw one fore around my hips and the other pressed against my shoulder. Inanely, I worried about getting dirt on my pristine jacket.

Gasps and nattering surrounded us as the first wistful notes sang out from the orchestra.

"Wh- What?" I half-gasped in a choked whisper.

She gave me a nervous but hopeful smile. "Now, we dance. You do know how to dance, don't you?"

"Yes, of course." I stumbled as she led me into the first few steps of a waltz. "W-with a woman."

(That probably doesn't make much sense without context: the protag is an elegant but subservient man who emigrated to Equestria to find employment as a butler and the mare is the heir of a noble Canterlot family who employs him. Oh, the scandal!)

That I think (hope) sets the new tone for it. But it does mean more-or-less starting over.

And then there's poor DwY which is still patiently waiting to be finished, and You Are Here which is 2/3rds done, and dozens of other ideas waiting for their turn.

Does anyone have a map to Pinkie's magic mirror pool?