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Let’s be serious. MFAC ended weeks ago. I should have wrapped it up then, but I’ve been writing furiously, so there was no time. I’ll explain in a second.
There one more thing I wanted to share.
On the last day of MFAC, there is a graduation. It’s an intimate affair in a dark auditorium. The graduates vote on who they want their speaker to be. This year, they picked Vera B. Williams. She is a tiny, spunky woman who took the train out to Minnesota to be with us.
Here are two things she said about writing that I need to remember:
“You will learn from what you have written, and it will surprise you.”
“You will create the world you were made to create.”
These two quotes are a great comfort to me because all this MFAC business, all the wisdom imparted, all the conversations about writing, have made me realize that my current novel (the one I have been working on for Thesis which starts September 1st) is so flawed that there would be no way to salvage the story without completely starting over.
…………………………..
So. That. Sucks.
But!
I thought, “Well. If I have to start again, might as well write a new novel that isn’t such a tangled mess.” Right? Right.
Three weeks ago today, I plotted out a whole new story in a new setting, dumped it into Scrivener, and am plowing through it every morning.
But the good news is that, because of all the MFAC plotting/POV lessons, it’s been so easy this time.
Well, maybe not easy, but smooth. I know where I’m going and how I’m getting there. Writing the other novel felt like trying to assemble IKEA furniture, blindfolded, on the deck of a ship in the middle of a hurricane…naked. Seriously. It was bad.
But this is good.
I have about 150 pages to write before September 1st plus LIFE, so wish me luck!
I’ll see you on the other side.