Day 12 – and all goes well.

In between teaching my writing course, rehearsing Alice, two editing jobs, and a dozen other things of a more practical nature, I’m happy to say that I’ve managed my twelfth story in a row, last night…

And this was one of those small surprises I was telling you about. Last night, after a rather hectic day, topped with intense rehearsals, a rushed drive to be home before curfew, and a very late dinner, I was ready to acknowledge defeat, and miss for the first time. All else apart, it was past one in the morning, and I hadn’t the foggiest idea, not even a scrap to start…

Up until three days ago, you see, my StoryADay routine was to take the time for some freewriting during the day, some notes, some little brainstorming – so that, come night, I mostly knew where the story was headed. It worked rather well, until things grew a little frenzied, and I found myself without a second to spare for preparation – like yesterday.

And what do you know? Instead of missing, just out of stubbornness, I still opened my laptop, and picked something from the List of 100 I’d made in preparation, and… just went with it. It’s happened twice this week, resulting in two tiny, half-decent, slightly unexpected drafts. Small surprises, indeed.

Just what this says about my writing process… hm. May I keep this one to explore in June, please?

The other small surprise happened on the day when I chatted on the phone with an older friend, and I don’t know how she came to tell stories about the childhood summers that she shared with my mother… And as I listened, one of these stories shaped itself in my mind, complete with beginning, middle, and end. Here goes Day 9, I thought – and indeed so it was.

So, to recap: twelve stories in twelve days, and perhaps I’m beginning to tentatively toe my way out of the comfort zone. I’m not entirely unhappy with things so far.

How about you? How is it going?