-t, I always make notes about a new idea, but otherwise I just let it percolate, like Gud said. If I have the perfect first paragraph or something, I'll write it down, too, but I try not to actually work steadily on it until the current thing is done.

That seems very sensible. I'm thinking a lot about work-flow and how to make time for writing and this is the sort of thing that can really throw me off.

Gud, that's a great idea and I already want to read it.

I met with my (future) PhD supervisor yesterday (great guy). He's a bit worried about my freelance project interfering with my PhD research, because the subject matter is very similar and for ethical reasons. I think I need to keep my own project as non-academic as possible and aim for a collection of stories around various themes, rather than an 'academically' researched book. I probably need to keep the participants in each project separate, too. How to decide which to use for which project is the difficult bit, though. I need to get back to the people who've offered to participate, but I need to decide how to select for each project first. Hmm.

Sounds complicated, Seska. I hope you find a good solution.

I like to contemplate ideas while I commute or can't sleep (probably not helpful there). The plot is starting to build itself in my head like a movie. I have the MC and two other major characters figured out along with a few minor characters and a bit of dialogue in the second chapter. The night-side civilization I'm seeing as have technology (with no sun they need an energy source) and probably borrowing a bit from steampunk to develop that.

In terms of actual work, I'm moving on to cutting up chapter 14 and seeing if I can find more vivid verbs since it's fairly action-packed. I also read by current revision of chapter 1 and found some repetitive sentence structures, a grammar error, and a couple lines of dialog that have both an attribution and a beat (I can cut words, yay!).

Anyone know in high school these days what the consequence would be for ditching a whole day, parent doesn't know where they are, no excuse?

Amy, from a parental perspective or a school perspective?

It already got answered, Debet, but thanks. I was looking for a school perspective for a plot point.

I'm thinking of adding quotes to the beginning of my chapters but as common as that is I can't find a book on my shelf that does it.

Does this seem punctuated right?

"There is a world outside the Barriers that few ever see. The Wild holds more than demons and the so-called savage Fari; a rich history exists in the ruins of the past. To begin to understand this world, and perhaps even ourselves, one must understand the Farian legend of the Dead Mountain."-- Lady Rachel Payne, A History of the Fari

Looks good.

What is the connection between the things on either side of the semicolon? The ruins of the past are located in the Wild?