I spent this morning’s writing window reading.

The stuff I read was Stephen King’s “On Writing,” specifically the section on revision your work. I also read through the similar section of Walter Mosley’s “This Year You Write Your Novel.”

From reading King’s section, I changed course and, on Saturday, I will try to read my whole draft end to end, making notes on the page, with a legal pad by my side for longer questions and comments. I may need to continue that process into Sunday.

By the end of that process, I’ll have the skeleton of what I need to accomplish with this rewrite. If I’d continued as I was going, a chapter at a time, then back to polish some more, I’d never see the forest for the trees, because I’m not giving myself the distance to pull back and see what I’m trying to accomplish. I’d be fixing small things, but never entirely sure how it connects to the big picture.

Mosley says if you read your book end to end it is considered a draft, since every time you do that, it changes and you get more ideas as far as what needs to happen. I mention that out of curiosity, though I’ll still call this the fourth draft. If I’d been that free with my numbering all along, this would be much farther into double digits than a fourth draft, possibly in the 30s.

So, tomorrow, I’ll save myself a headache I already found editing the first three chapters, which is the lack of contractions. I’ll just find/replace my way through tomorrow, making sure each one works for that sentence, lest I find myself removing contractions by hand across 700+ pages.

So, by Monday, I will have a marked up draft and a legal pad with notes (which I’ll surely transcribe as a Word document, as well). That legal pad will basically be my marching orders for the next few weeks/months as I revise.

Taking a cue from Mosley, though, after I finish this draft, I will actually read my whole novel and put it on my iPod, listening to it for however many writing sessions that takes, making more notes where things ring false or sound awkward.

Then I will apply those notes to the draft.

After that is done, I will read through it one last time. And that will be my last pass before I let other people finally read this thing.

I’m rather excited to get this process started. First week yet, so still fits and starts looking for a rhythm. It will come soon enough…

I’ve had people ask whether I do different things at different times, since they know I shifted my life around to focus on the fourth draft of my novel. So, here is the breakdown of when stuff happens:

Sunday
4 a.m. Breakfast and work on novel
6 a.m. or later, finish work on novel
NO GYM!
Afternoon reserved for activities (hikes, movies, theater matinees)
7 p.m. Should be home and reading/unwinding
8ish Bed

Monday
4 a.m. Breakfast and work on novel
6 a.m. Get ready for work
7 a.m. Commute to eBay
8 a.m. Work out at eBay gym (cardio)
9 to 5, what a way to make a living
7 p.m. Get home from work
8ish Go to bed

Tuesday
4 a.m. Breakfast and work on novel
6 a.m. Go to local gym and do cardio AND strength training
9 to 5, what a way to make a living
7 p.m. Unwinding and reading
8ish Go to bed

Wednesday
4 a.m. Breakfast and work on novel
6 a.m. Get ready for work
7 a.m. Commute to eBay
8 a.m. Work out at eBay gym (cardio)
9 to 5, what a way to make a living
7 p.m. Get home from work
8ish Go to bed

Thursday
varies
If commuting, see Wednesday’s schedule
If not, see Tuesday’s schedule

Friday
4 a.m. Breakfast and work on novel
6 a.m. Go to local gym and do cardio
9 to 5, what a way to make a living
7 p.m. Unwinding and reading
8ish Go to bed

Saturday
4 a.m. Breakfast and work on novel
6 a.m. Go to local gym and do cardio AND strength training
Whatever…
7 p.m. Unwinding and reading
8ish Go to bed

Clearly, weekends have the most flexibility.

Also, on this schedule, my meals break down as:
Breakfast: shortly after 4 a.m.
Lunch: 10:30-11 a.m.
Dinner: 4:30p

So, that’s what it looks like right now. It looks a bit daunting at a glance, but it’s not bad doing it otherwise…

I always enjoy when the Academy Award nominations come out. Whereas most people start mentioning how many movies they need to see, or go off about how out of touch the Academy is, etc., etc., I can usually jump in and pick between five things I’ve actually seen already. So, I figured I’d go through the list and think out loud through the major nominations…

Performance by an actor in a leading role

* Richard Jenkins in “The Visitor” (Overture Films)
* Frank Langella in “Frost/Nixon” (Universal)
* Sean Penn in “Milk” (Focus Features)
* Brad Pitt in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
* Mickey Rourke in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)

Well, these are five amazing performances, no doubt. I can’t pick one that doesn’t deserve to be on this list. I loved The Visitor a lot, and thought Langella was amazing as Nixon without any attempt to look like him. Brad Pitt handled a complex role in Button, and Rourke really staged an amazing comeback, playing his own life in parallel with The Wrestler. But, the most transformative role of the bunch here is Sean Penn as Harvey Milk.

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

* Josh Brolin in “Milk” (Focus Features)
* Robert Downey Jr. in “Tropic Thunder” (DreamWorks, Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
* Philip Seymour Hoffman in “Doubt” (Miramax)
* Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.)
* Michael Shannon in “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage)

Again, we’re getting a nice mix here. Five strong performances again. I’m confused why Hoffman is supporting here, seemed a lead role to me. Downey is a nice pick here, although I liked his work in Iron Man better. But, let’s face it, he wouldn’t be best actor for that. And Shannon had a fun, memorable role in Revolutionary. Personally, I’m torn between Brolin for his nuanced role as Dan White in Milk and Ledger for his work as the Joker. But, let’s face it, Ledger will win this posthumously.

Performance by an actress in a leading role

* Anne Hathaway in “Rachel Getting Married” (Sony Pictures Classics)
* Angelina Jolie in “Changeling” (Universal)
* Melissa Leo in “Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics)
* Meryl Streep in “Doubt” (Miramax)
* Kate Winslet in “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company)

OK, finally we hit a category where I’m at a stronger disadvantage. I didn’t see Rachel, Changeling, or Frozen River. I loved Meryl in Doubt (not as much as Cherry Jones’s version onstage, though). Either way, Winslet seems the strongest of the bunch here.

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

* Amy Adams in “Doubt” (Miramax)
* Penélope Cruz in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” (The Weinstein Company)
* Viola Davis in “Doubt” (Miramax)
* Taraji P. Henson in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
* Marisa Tomei in “The Wrestler” (Fox Searchlight)

Back on firmer ground, I’ve seen all these. LOVED Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and Cruz in it. I fear the role was a bit too one-dimensional for the Academy. Doubt lovers get canceled out, though between the two I’d lean Davis. Henson was good in Button. My instinct is Tomei, but I’m swinging back to Davis.

Best animated feature film of the year

* “Bolt”
* “Kung Fu Panda”
* “WALL-E”

I only saw Wall-E here, but it doesn’t matter, since it will win. Hands down.

Achievement in directing

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) David Fincher
* “Frost/Nixon” (Universal) Ron Howard
* “Milk” (Focus Features) Gus Van Sant
* “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company) Stephen Daldry
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) Danny Boyle

All great movies, I’d recommend anyone see whatever they haven’t yet. I have an amazing soft spot for Milk (dude, I’m even in it for 3 seconds… OK, maybe 2), and think it is phenomenal. Button is ambitious and I love Fincher (hell, he directed Fight Club). But, this award should go to Slumdog Millionaire. This movie has huge mess written all over it. A contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, being interviewed by police, with Dickensian flashbacks of poverty-stricken lives in Mumbai and an epic, sweeping tale that makes the experience so much more than the sum of its parts? That’s Oscar, and it should win. Sorry, gays.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Alexandre Desplat
* “Defiance” (Paramount Vantage) James Newton Howard
* “Milk” (Focus Features) Danny Elfman
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) A.R. Rahman
* “WALL-E” (Walt Disney) Thomas Newman

I only left this category here because the Slumdog music and thematic stuff was so over-the-top phenomenal…

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

* “Down to Earth” from “WALL-E” (Walt Disney) Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Lyric by Peter Gabriel
* “Jai Ho” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Gulzar
* “O Saya” from “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

I say “Jai Ho“! And I hope we get Dev Patel and the cast up there doing the whole Bollywood dance number!

Best motion picture of the year

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
* “Frost/Nixon”
* “Milk”
* “The Reader”
* “Slumdog Millionaire”

SLUMDOG!

Adapted screenplay

* “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Screenplay by Eric Roth, Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
* “Doubt” (Miramax) Written by John Patrick Shanley
* “Frost/Nixon” (Universal) Screenplay by Peter Morgan
* “The Reader” (The Weinstein Company) Screenplay by David Hare
* “Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

Slumdog, again.

Original screenplay

* “Frozen River” (Sony Pictures Classics) Written by Courtney Hunt
* “Happy-Go-Lucky” (Miramax) Written by Mike Leigh
* “In Bruges” (Focus Features) Written by Martin McDonagh
* “Milk” (Focus Features) Written by Dustin Lance Black
* “WALL-E” (Walt Disney) Written by Andrew Stanton

I’m going Dustin Lance Black with Milk here, although tha little robot could nab it.

Nothing new or surprising given the January “New year’s resolutions” timeframe, but I’ve been spending the last few weeks since returning home from my holiday stint in PA reorganizing my life.

It’s all stuff I’ve done before, and that worked before, which always makes me wonder what happened… why did it stop?

The most important thing is I’ll be debt-free in February. I know my recent weight gain was linked to money or, more importantly, stress. Two summers ago, I started looking for work, and there were jobs, but I just couldn’t land one, since I was overqualified for all of them. I knew that and it was kind of the point, but it wasn’t happening. Because I saw so many jobs posted that I could do, I wasn’t panicked about finding work.

As a result, I waited until my finances were like “Dude, it’s time” to get one. And then no one would hire me. Many of them saying things like “You could do this job with your eyes closed,” and “You’d be bored with a job this easy.” Nice to hear, but as the jobs weren’t happening, the finances started spiraling quickly (since I’d waited so long), which started the stress, and the eating.

In any event, it took a period of aggressive paydown, but the debt will be gone soon.

I’ve started reexamining everything in an effort to put what I supposedly value first. My life seems to have a lot of diametrically opposed issues there, with the easy fix always winning over the long-term struggles, whether it be going to the theater instead of finishing my novel, having a nice meal instead of monitoring my diet, and on down the line.

So, upon my return, I started getting up earlier. My normal wake-up time for my commute is 6 a.m., so that was the starting point. the first day I got up at 6, then 5:30, then 5, and I’ve been waking up now at 4 a.m. for nearly a week. I’m nearly at the point where I can be creative at that time, at which point 4 to 6 a.m. will be my writing window.

The other stuff is more of what you’d expect. The gym is six days a week (like popular dieties in Jewish fiction, I take Sundays off). I’ve cooked a lot of my own meals, and cut way back on eating out.

The only missing component that has yet to be folded into the plan is to start reading more fiction again. That begins any day now.

At some point this year, not soon, I want to start dating and all that. I even set up something of a date for July, although that has a lot of contingencies, such as the amazing guy still being available then. He lives out of town, which is the only way to put something off for such a period. July gives me time to have a finished fourth draft of novel and a better draft of my body. If someone snatches him up by then, I’ll still visit his town and most likely see him, just in a different way.

My job is a contract which, by law, could possibly end in mid-March. So, it’s important to lay the groundwork so we don’t have a repeat performance of last time. I plan to be looking for work before this contract ends, though, hopefully transitioning directly into something else.

Like I said, I’m not doing anything over the top, or new. Just what I’ve determined is necessary to knock out as many goals as possible as soon as possible.

I’ll try not to avoid this blog for as long in 2009, as well.

OK, 9 a.m. now, time to start work. Today was a commute day, and I’m already at my desk.