Today I did some more editing of chapter 2 (including some background material that it was obvious was confusing the writers group) and edited chapter 3 and most of chapter 4. I'm now a little concerned that all the background material is delaying us from getting to the A plot, but we'll see--I've done some compressing and may do more. Feedback from people who have read Trang also may help, but it's also important for me to remember that this is all going to be a big compromise.
Yesterday I didn't do jack, because the night before last I didn't sleep. I have the occasional sleepless night, as well as the periods where I will switch off between not sleeping and sleeping, like, 14 hours at a stretch. That's always really annoying, because writing is not busy work--if I'm tired or sick or hungover, I just can't do it very well (although sometimes I'm actually better at copy editing if I'm tired and just a little cranky).
I wound up watching most of Samurai Champloo. Heh-heh-heh. I lovelovelove Cowboy Bebop (which is by the same director), and I had been warned that Samurai Champloo lacked the character depth of that show. And that's true--it's also much more R-rated, with, say, an entire episode taking place in a brothel and revolving a character's unsuccessful attempts to get laid by a geisha who is actually an undercover police officer. (The first time she beats him up, he's so horny/dumb that he thinks it's "the rough stuff"--and he likes it!) But I love it, I just love it--I have enough of a frat-boy sense of humor that the crudeness doesn't bother me, plus it just hits the right WTF? note for me. I don't mind anachronistic beatboxing any more than I minded The 1970s Blaxplotation Planet or how the crew was hunted down by some old leftovers in Cowboy Bebop. It's funny because I definitely have a tipping point on that kind of randomness--I really didn't enjoy FLCL because the whole thing was just, Hey, that doesn't make any sense! But if it makes emotional sense (which the beatboxing does) or is just a funny add-on to an otherwise coherent story, I don't mind it a bit.