Seven novel accomplishments on Saturday

A.K.A : I may not have written the chapter (or even a paragraph) but Saturday was still a good day for the novel

1. I now have two family trees for the main characters.
You may wonder why it's important that I know that the heroine's grandmother was born in 1741? After all, there was a lot of "if this character had that character when she was 18 then that character was born in 17XX" going on during this process. But this really helped me figure out who's who, and why they're relevant in the story.

2. I found maps of Somerset for the time period I'm writing about
Now I know where they live, and how far apart the two family homes are from each other. Sure, these homes are fictional, but they're near real places.

3. I know how long it takes to get from one house to another on horseback, and in a Phaeton.
You see, I should know how they get back and forth, and just how much of a jaunt it is. I should add it took considerable time to decide on which type of carriage best suited my character.

4. I know a great website for village inn's in England
Ok. I admit it. This has nothing directly to do with the novel. But it's essential for hubby and I for when we go to England this spring. For research. So a novel accomplishment it shall be.

5. I'm pretty sure I know enough about dying of syphilis.
When you read the book, you'll know why this matters. And no. This is not a spoiler.

6. My heroine's brother has a name, and I now like him
Again, important, since in the beginning, I wasn't sure how I was going to make him. But he's an alright fella, once you get to know him.

7. I almost have a song for a critical part of the book decided on
Yes, this sounds like I'm stretching for accomplishments just so this list could be about 7 accomplishments instead of 6, but really, I've been obsessing about this since August. Seriously. And now I think I almost have it decided. Big step.

So there you have it. I didn't write a word for the book, and yet managed to write pages of backstory, build some pretty charts, and in general, figure out some things. Because writing a novel isn't just about writing the book. There's a whole lot of thinking, and rethinking, and figuring stuff out. And that was Saturday. All in all, a decent day. This Saturday I'm getting my done, but other than that, no plans other than to soldier on.