This is an unusual thing for me. I usually do not solicit advice. This, while due to several reasons, is mostly because I’m kind of stuck up and, most of the time, am pretty sure I know more than you do about my situation and do not need your ill-informed advice. Today, however, I am prepared to admit that I need advice, and I’ll take pretty much any of it. I’m not picky. Here are the topics on which you, my faithful blog readers, are invited to advise me:
1. EDITING THE STINKING PILE OF CRAP THAT IS MANUSCRIPT NUMBER ONE
I have pretty much come to the conclusion that I need to edit said stinking pile of crap because, well, I like the characters (in general), I like the story (the idea of it, anyway), and it’s my only sorta-done manuscript. Buuuut the problem is that I need to make major plot point changes and do some major character overhauls, and every time I sit down to get started, I open the file and cry. Really. It’s so huge and daunting. So the advice I need: Should I open a new, pretty, blank Word document and just rewrite the whole darn thing, or should I try to salvage the doc I have, or any portions of it? Thoughts? What would you do? How do you edit? Is this really editing, or is it chucking the old one and starting over?
2. PLANTING MY WINDOW BOX
I’m thinking cascading petunias, but the article I read said they need well-drained soil. A window box is not well-drained. Ever. Any other ideas? I want something not too tall because if it’s too tall I can’t open my kitchen window. That’s why I like the idea of cascading something-or-other. So I need something that will survive a humid summer and preferably bloom without too much coaxing. And it would be good if it was sorta hearty too because I tend to kill things.
3. GREENHOUSES IN THE AREA
On that same note, do any of you know of a greenhouse in the Durham area where I could go for some planty advice? I’m a novice at best, and a plant murderer at worst, so I definitely can’t just go to Home Depot and say, “Give me one of those, one of those, and three of those.” I’d end up with man-eating carnivorous plants which thrive in arid soil and full shade or something. And that’s not really what I want… although if they were man-eating, I guess I wouldn’t have to worry so much about locking the doors every morning. I could just plant one in the weird empty flower bed in front of the front door, where I can’t really plant anything because then it would BLOCK said front door and the curb appeal would be shot to all hell. Am I really talking about curb appeal? How home-ownery am I, and we’ve only owned a home for a year! Less than a year! 11 months or so! ugh.
4. KNOCKING ONESELF INTO A STUPOR AT NIGHT SO AS TO GET SOME SLEEP
I have not been sleeping well. While I presume this has something to do with my thyroid weirdness, I need a temporary solution until I can get to the doctor to have another freaking blood test. Any ideas? I tried the drink-a-glass-of-wine-before-bed idea last night but one glass turned into three glasses and it was more of a crapulous doze than I prefer. Plus, once I got undrunk again, I woke up and tossed and turned the rest of the night. Sigh. Foiled again.
Ok, that’s all I can think of for now. But, since I’m feeling all ready for constructive criticism, feel free to lay any other advice on me that you can think of too.
Not.
For real, don’t give me any advice I didn’t solicit. I’ll cry.
Technorati tags: Advice, Gardening, Insomnia, Writing, Editing
