Starting on Chapter 4

I started on my next attempt at Chapter 4 this morning. Customary work and routine and nothing unusual to report. Mainly I was just reminded again of how delicate my attention is. I have a long list of errands to do and at about 90 minutes into my work I remembered that one of them was time sensitive, so after that point I couldn't make myself focus on the book until I took care of the errand.

Another thing I noticed recently that I was somewhat aware of is similarities between this work and grading student papers. Of all the work that I do, grading student papers is unique in that I really have to set aside everything and start on it fresh in the morning. I can't jump into it a little at a time later on in the day like I can with just about any other kind of chore. That's the same with working on my novel.

As a consequence, when I have student papers I always lose at least a couple days on the novel, which is why I got almost no work done last week.