Breaking Out the Resolve

I've never been a champion housekeeper.  At any given time, you'll find a layer of dust on damn near everything and clumps of kitty hair sprinkled across my almost-white carpet.  (It'd be lighter if I cleaned more - trust me.)  Still, I'm a lot better at this than I used to be. 

Back when I lived in Michigan, it was so much worse (as evidenced by the above pic).  Then, you'd find a pile of dishes in the sink, laundry - both clean and dirty - in mountains around the place, and clutter everywhere.  Of course then I was a single mom working all day as an outside sales rep and at night as a computer consultant/web designer.  During the times I wasn't working or momming, I didn't have the energy to clean.  And on the weekends, the mounds of filth were just overwhelming. 

You see, when you have such a big project, it's hard to know where to start and you get tired just thinking about all the tasks you have to do before you can call it done.

Or I do, anyway.

Which is why sitting here this morning with the full intent of tackling Djinnocide, I'm stalled.  The manuscript is so damn messy that I don't know where to start.  I know... Begin at the beginning and go all the way through to the end.  But there are so many things from the middle that need to be addressed closer to the beginning.  My CP is still sending me comments from the middle chapters that need to be weaved in earlier... 

And I'm tired just thinking about it.

Yesterday I hand-washed the carpet here.  I started out just doing a spot cleaning, but every spot I cleaned just made me realize how dirty the rest of the carpet was.  Nothing like a spot of nearly white to show how gray the rest of it is.  So, rather than go through the expense of renting a machine, I got out the Resolve and took on the living room.  Two cans of Resolve and a boatload of sore muscles later, half the room looks almost presentable.

It's the same with this manuscript.  Last year, I started out spot cleaning and ended up rewriting the whole damn thing.  This year?  I thought I had a relatively clean manuscript, but now every spot my CP points out makes me realize just how dingy this sucker is. 

It can be beautiful.  There is a wonderful clean book under all that mess.  I just need to push up my sleeves, break out the Resolve, and start scrubbing.  I need to not think about the spots in the hall, or the path of gray in the high traffic areas.  I need to start at one corner and work my way across - hoping nobody tracks anything through the clean parts when I'm done.

And that no unsightly tufts of cat hair find their way into the story in the middle of the night.