"The train was watching Olesya undress. She thought it shuddered under the carpet, thick purple carpet, felt the shudder through the soles of her shoes, new flats acquired for the tour in a boutique on Tverskaya, a red lacquer pair that cost half of her principal dancer salary, but it was worth it, dammit, it was worth it to spend—"

THIS IS THE NEW OPENING AND I ALREADY WANT TO FIX IT BUT I'LL WAIT.

I finished Draft 2 of TUBE yesterday! You can read the whole damn thing here! And send me messages like "It sucked!" or "I love it!" But you already know this as I'd shouted about it from every rooftop, albeit being half-dead whilst at it. Consider this an in-depth shout with a story of how this draft came to life over 4 months, the longest time I've ever spent on a draft to date in the 3 years I've been writing, and the things it has taught me.

I have completely forgotten about my tradition to post the first chapter of a new draft here. It tells you how much this book has pulled me away from reality. This, and the fact that I haven't blogged in a week. That's unheard of.

Like I mentioned already, something new is happening. My process is changing. Also, my daily routine is changing. Now in the mornings, before I start writing, I go over the list of new words that have accumulated from yesterday's reading, and look up their meanings in Russian, English, their etymology and, if applicable, images. As a result my ability to absorb new vocabulary has accelerated. I have also created 24 little files for every character, and am populating each with specific speech inflections to keep track of (and translating tons of idioms from Russian to English). This is also new and takes up time.

Draft 2 of TUBE is done! 10 things it taught me.

TUBE excerpt. Draft 2. Chapter 1. Red Shoes