At the Arctic Circle

It's my last working day in Eagle Plains

Pretty sure I’ve met all nine. With hunting season, this places is busier than I thought!

I said I couldn’t promise a post today because I want to stay focused. So I won’t give you a long treatise on how my time has gone, except to say: very well.

The Arctic Circle Retreat has been an outstanding gift for me and couldn’t come at a better point in the process. With real space to think and write (and sleep), without the regular distractions of daily life and work and family, I’ve achieved a tremendous amount in five days. And I discovered to my surprise that I arrived here with quite a lot of work already done in those scribblings and drafts and notes taken over the past year or so. Despite my doubts, I had in fact been working on this!

Since digging in here on Sunday I’ve solved innumerable questions and issues, outlined the whole novel, and slotted all of my previous drafting and sketches into specific scenes and chapters, while discarding most of the rest. I know what the big hurdles are in terms of character and logic and plot. I know where to go and what’s yet to be explored.

So, with the story as figured out as it can be at this stage, I can just… write it. Of 24 total chapters, I’ve got a fairly solid Chapter 1, drafts of Chapters 2 and 3, solid notes for another six or so, and an impression for the rest. I simply couldn’t speak on these terms (outline, chapters, scenes, etc.) a week ago.

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The closer I get to the end, the looser my understanding gets—but that not only feels natural, it feels good. I don’t want it all wrapped up in a bow. I want to, and am excited to, write.

Time to get back to it.

On the Dempster Highway.

Tombstone Territorial Park.

The second half of my drive on the Dempster was slow, with a lot of unploughed roadway.

Back of the Eagle Plains Hotel. Insulation!

My workstation.

Galena’s workstation. Yes, that’s one of the kids’ blankets.

Sunrise.

The sun doesn’t get too much higher than this.

Midday walk.

The road is often closed due to poor conditions. Right now you can’t get to Fort MacPherson or Inuvik because the Peel and Mackenzie Rivers are freezing up.

Sunset.

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Writing

10/10.

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Reading and Listening

• Nope! Just music and dumb YouTube videos (example, example). I’ve got a bunch of books next to me that I haven’t cracked.

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Quote of the Week

“To see what is in front of one's nose needs a constant struggle.”

— George Orwell