The outline is staring at me reproachfully from the printer. Last night, I got it in order, printed it out, all set to go through it. Today it is gathering dust while I ignore it.

My hope is that I can read the outline (thank you, Scrivener, for your nifty outlining tool and keeping me honest), see if it 1) makes sense; 2) is hella boring; 3) where do the A plot and B plot need to be entwined; and 4) what vital bits do I need to add in that I've missed, then 5) what should I think about cutting out entirely. Which will leave me with 6) hooking the front end of the damn book together with the rest of the back end which is already (mostly) written in beta draft form.

At that point, I think I'll have about 180,000 words. By the time I get through 1-4, I hope to get up to 200,000. Then I can start cutting it back down.

The way I figure it, most of the words are utter crap. I have to describe every little tiny detail of everything to see it. Then, taking pity on the reader, I go back and take out what no one but me needs to know. To borrow from a conversation I had with scarlettina , if there's a drawer of silverware in the room, I have to describe the drawer, and describe the silver in it so that I know if it's Georgian silverware or Edwardian silverware.  Even if the silverware never hits the table.  Then I go back and cut it out.  But I can't write the rest of the scene up front until lI know what that darn silverware is, because it makes a difference to who the characters are and what they might do.

I wish I could forget the silverware. I'd write faster, smoother, fewer words for sure. I can't stand not knowing about the forks though.  And if they own a salad server.

So I'm almost at beta draft.

The beginning rocks
The ending rocks
I am over the half way mark (flopped over, perhaps, but over) and on the down hill slope.

Getting the whole thing to make sense is going to be a challenge, but there it is. Down hill slope for sure. Then the big massage, and in this instance, I do mean big massage.