I finished going through the first two chapters in order. I'm finding a lot of awkward prose; even the 2012 draft, which was much leaner than the 2010 version, had a lot of strikes against it. "One Could Do Better" was an appropriate title for my early draft, but for all the wrong reasons.

Cleaning up the awkward prose brings the story out more, though. The book itself was mediocre and the story was incomplete, but now it's coming together in a way that feels right to me.

Those who read the earlier drafts may notice that I've made the protagonist a little less of the bizarre, exaggerated version of myself I had originally intended. This draft will be one of the most honest, because I now have the benefit of hindsight to assess myself as I was ten years ago. I wasn't crazy at all, I was just really confused.

Still, much of the original book will still be there and recognizable.