blocks: road and writers

i got the final 20 pages of my novel back from the publishers yesterday afternoon, and i'm about to dive in to the re-jigging. it's funny, there's more work here than there was in the whole middle section of around one hundred pages. i think that's understandable, because the middle section has been in existence for the longest - kinda like a custard tart, really. the middle is set, nice and creamy, and the crust is crumbly round the edges... mmmm, custard tart... hmm. anyway. i have re-polished the start and now i am going to finish off the end for what i hope will be the final time.

yesterday when the courier delivered the pages, i had a read over them and was overwhelmed with the idea of a re-draft; i began to feel the symptoms of impending writers block coming on, so i put the pages aside and had a bath instead, and didn't look at them again till this morning. i was a little scared of how i'd feel, but i thought 'they're just words, dammit!'. so i had breakfast and then sat down with them, and i've realised that the situation is not as dire as i imagined it was. i have had a brainwave. i think i can make this thing work. the solution i have in mind involves some changes and additions and shifts in mood, and i think the ending will be better for it. maybe after the book comes out i will put alternate bits up on this site for anyone who's curious to see what it started out as. the most significant thing that's happened that i can share with you without giving much away is that the bit that was the 'start' when i first began writing this story in early 2002, is now the beginning of the final chapter in the book.

anyway, the title of this blog refers to blocks of different kinds. i thought that today i would wake up with writers block; instead, i am pleasingly bloackage-free. i did wake up top another kind of block, though - the street i live on is blocked off as the irish pub on the corner closes it off on st pat's day every year to curb the spill of revelers who will pack their good establishment this evening. happy st pat's day!