It's the waiting.

As in all things, it's the waiting.

I was getting kind of discouraged, but now that I'm deep into rewriting, I can see that the problem was partly distance.  I wasn't writing.  I was waiting.

Anyway, I'm feeling more encouraged now.

As I'm going along collating the two edits, I'm also rewriting.  I can feel the book getting better.  The "work" I thought it would be isn't turning out so bad and I definitely can feel how it is adding depth and complexity to the story.  I was worried about disrupting the story, but so far things are falling into place.

I can see how this could be a good book.  I mean, I thought it was a good story before, but these new elements give it a chance to have that much more payoff.  I have something that I can really sink my teeth into.

What happens is that I start to see glimmers...things I can do...and though I don't know what they are yet, I can feel them coming.

It will mean working on it heavily for a month or so.  I can't slack off.  But if I pursue all the possibilities, I can see a glimmer of a pretty strong story.

 So that's cool.

The big thing is that I need to set up the bad guys -- have them do some bad things -- and then have them get their comeuppance.  So, that just requires some ideas, which I feel glimmering, as I said.  I've got a general idea of what I want to accomplish, and now I'm just letting my subconscious work on it, and in the background I can feel it coming...