It's like a New Year

When I return from my writing pilgrimage to VONA, to San Francisco, I always feel renewed. I also feel a bit depressed (for having to leave that inspiring & loving space). It usually takes me a week to process, to decompress, to cope in which I withdraw from the world. But with a baby now, I don't have that luxury. So I'm taking bits of time here & there to decompress by ruminating here.

As with every return from VONA, I make a few resolutions. It's like a New Year for me. This year, I have resolved to finish writing the novel by next year. Yes. One year. Twelve months. That's fewer months than I've worked on it thus far. And so, after Walter Mosley's lecture (which will be published as a monograph next year) on writing a novel in a year, I will do just that. Of course, this resolution needs short-term goals in order to make it digestable, managable. One measure I have taken already (which, I hope to God, I can sustain) is to write at least 90 minutes daily. Now, where does a new mama find 90 uninterrupted minutes? At 4:30 a.m. Yeah. I know. But you know what? I've done it for 4 mornings in a row and I'm pretty excited about that. The first two mornings were a slow start --figuring out how to get back into the groove of the novel & such-- but this morning? I wrote 1000 words! (Fiction/prose is measured in word count rather than page numbers, but for those of you who need page numbers, that comes out to about 4 pages double-spaced) This is thrilling! Sure, I'm fucking tired, but hey, I got 4 more pages than I did yesterday. At this rate, I'll have a complete first draft in no time! (that, and a serious case of dark circles under the eyes) I'm curious to see how the story ends... (I'm one of those intuitive writers, which I suspect has to do with my being a poet.)

Another short-term goal/resolution: to read a few pages of poetry or prose nightly. I need to feed the well with plenty of water.

There are other resolutions I have made, including some self-care ones. But this is the bulk of what I've taken from this year's writing retreat/pilgrimage.

I look forward to seeing what happens.

Up next: the seminar on writers of color & political responsibility.