Writing and research frustrations

I can't decide if it's easier or hard to work with a mythos that is vague, varied, and open, or one that has a pretty rigid structure and set of facts ("facts"?).

On one hand, I suppose it's nice to be able to write without being bound to a strict set of rules and general knowledge, but on the other hand, it's probably easier if (quite frankly) I don't have to be creative and can just work within a nice laid-out structure.  So this should be...fun.  I'll sift through the crap I can find on the internet and see if I can't create a set of rules for myself tomorrow.  I won't need much, just a basic framework.

At least the prologue is done.  While I don't think this start of Chapter 1 will be the hardest, it is frustrating me right now.  But hopefully I can knock a good chunk of it out tomorrow.  I'm just glad I finally settled on what voice I'm writing in (third person), as it did lovely things like even out my tenses.  First person sucks for that; at least in my case I write in a really awful past tense.  Occasionally it slips out of past tense, which just makes it all worse.  At least third person's past tense is consistent, a standard story-telling tense, and can assume outside knowledge.  First person is extremely limiting.  Glad I dropped it.  Besides, my prologue is now longer than the majority of my original first chapter.  And it needed to be.  Prologue *should* be--if I'm guessing words-per-page correctly (for standard mass-market paperback)--about 10 pages.  W00t.

Off to bed with me.  Let's see if the new duvet is warm enough for Adam without killing me.  He's mad because I bought a 10.5 tog and a 4.5 tog.  We had a 13.5 tog.  If you don't know what togs are, I'm right there with you, but they recommend 13.5 for winter, 9 for spring/autumn, and 4-5 for summer.  Adam would happily sleep under a 28.5 combo of the three in summer, but between the memory-foam mattress topper (which irritatingly enough moves every night.  I have no idea how or why but it's obnoxious and frustrating and I have to remake the bed EVERY day) and the heavy duvet, I'm tired of damn-near drowning in sweat.  Oh well, at least now we have plenty of duvet options for any guests we may have.  Namely Claudia, who shall be here at the end of May, we hope.  And we shall get her drunk, for she will have just finished a major presentation.

Sad...I never thought I would lose my desire to sleep under things that weigh 50 pounds.  I think Death Valley had something to say about that--I would have taken off my skin to sleep had it been an option there.  I fear that I am becoming (more) my mother.

Right.  NOW off to bed.