Now the part I’m working on is just before the ending. J read it last night and gave it her stamp of approval. It made her cry, she said it was beautiful, it opened up a nice small discussion. I have two market ideas for it and if they say no I’ll need to drum up more.
I’ve learned a lot (so far) in writing this and am already looking forward to whatever I end up writing next because I want to learn more.
I realized a big problem I have is always revising and not rewriting. I’ll keep pieces I like and transfer it to a new document then try to build on them but things turn out better when I jettison everything and start over. I don’t know how many versions of this (totally different versions) I started but it was a lot. I started every session with a free-write and then when I unlocked something new I would let myself start writing in earnest. When I got stuck, I’d freewrite again or call it a day (depending on how much work I’d done). I also read a lot of essays that seemed to do what I wanted to do and then tried on ways of starting or finishing or structure ideas. None of them stuck but they helped me come at in a way I might not have tried and that gave me a fresh perspective with its accompanying inspiration.
I say all this like I’m done. I’m not done.
Thank god J liked it. It would have been very hard if she took issue with anything I said both writing-wise and family-wise.
I have two kids and a delightfully odd husband, Brett. My children are Noah (born to us in 1997) and Madison (born to her first mom, Pennie, in 2004 and brought to our family through a domestic, open adoption). They are my inspiration and also the reason I don't get more done around here.
I'm a writer and sometimes I get published, which is a nice thing. I write for joy, I write for money and when I'm very lucky, both things happen at the same time. My work appears in national publications including Yoga Journal, Disney's Family.com, Utne, Wondertime, Brain Child and Salon. Currently I am working on a book about my daughter's adoption and seeking representation for the proposal. I also own Smart Cookie Communications with my husband.
afrindiemum
January 30th, 2006 at 7:43 pm
i can’t wait! i totally want to read it when it’s published.
meagan
January 31st, 2006 at 9:41 am
Oh, I’m so glad J liked it! Though, I KNEW she would!