Write Part of My Memoir in November, Day 13: No Laurel Resting
Welcome to Day 13 of my self-imposed memoir challenge, which has provided me with a bit of justified procrastination.
I finished chapter 12.
As I mentioned in my last post, I knew I was close to the end, but thought it would take at least one day more of fussing. Nope. Done and done. And damned if I don’t think it’s pretty good.
I want to celebrate. Eat and drink everything in sight. Read novels. Binge-watch Netflix. Anything but start the next chapter.
I HATE starting new chapters. Even though I know roughly what I want to include, I don’t know exactly where I want to go with a chapter until I’m at least halfway through and start to see a shape to it. At the beginning of each chapter, I’m convinced that this is the one that will sink the book, the one where I realize I have absolutely nothing to say. It’s a pity that it’s happening so close to the end of the book, I tell myself, but that’s just how it is.
I didn’t say these musings were rational or a good thing. It’s just my MO, a ritual, part of the process. Don’t try to talk me out of it.
So. There will be a brief celebration, a visit to a friend’s house. My dog will play with her dogs, we will all eat, drink, and be merry.
And tomorrow I will start Chapter 13, like it or not.
Edie
Emily Hancock
Patricia Armstrong
I tried never to let the chapter know I was coming. Just sneak up by making a list of things in the chapter then randomly expanding on items in the list, then shuffling them around until…surprise! It was a draft.
Excellent strategy! I did take notes and even transfer blocks of text from other chapters, so the chapter is not an entirely blank slate. But it refuses to cohere or even take fall into a logical sequence beforehand. Heaven knows I’ve tried. Ornery.