Madeleine Is Shocked

Really? I haven't posted since April 2nd? I knew that I hadn't posted in a long time, but I didn't think it had been that long. I certainly thought I had posted several times in April.

Anyway, here I am again, excusing my inconsistency.

I was thinking about the Mildred, though, all weekend--thinking, actually, that I have to post soon. Then I was speaking to Our Dear Reader (though, frankly, I am not sure that he or anyone else is reading this blog anymore) and he asked me when I was going to post on the Mildred again and insisted that I do it. And I agree with him; I do have to do it. I have to see this blog through (it will end once I have finished five stories). Writing on the blog is just as important as finishing the five stories, or at least it is all part of the same project, i.e., to complete things.

So I am working on Story #2--yes, still just #2--but it's going pretty well. I am writing a quick first draft, which means that I am writing out a complete draft of the story in longhand. And by writing out I mean that I am writing down everything that comes into my head when I am sitting at my desk--everything to do with the story, I mean--and writing it in paragraphs (NOT notes) and moving through the story from the beginning to the end. This will help me get a basic structure for the story, I hope, keep me from getting blocked and from working on the same paragraph (or even sentence) for weeks or months, and help me make organic connections in the story--or help organic connections to make themselves in the story. (Does that make sense? I'm not sure it does.) But it seems to be working: I am progressing through the story from the beginning to the end (I am in the middle right now); I am not blocking myself from writing; I have figured out ideas/connections/themes in the story that I wouldn't have figured out otherwise, or at least I wouldn't have figured them out this quickly.

Does it sound like I am feeling pretty good about this new process? Well, I am.

For the first week or so, I still had thoughts like, yuck I have to go write, and I would delay and delay and delay and eventually get something done. Now, though, I feel like I have to write, even look forward to it, though I didn't write yesterday. I don't feel guilty about not writing one day, though, because all the other days I have been writing and I am on target to finish this first draft of Story #2 at the end of the week, which is amazing for me. And if I don't, I will not wallow in my failure, I'll just keep going until it is done.

The next step--after the loose first draft--is to type it into my computer, then edit. Scary thoughts just came into my head... But that's all later. For now, I am pleased with my progress--and pleased that I wrote on the Mildred. Yay for me. I will try to update this more then twice a month from now on, but I've said that before...